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BUILDERS  OF 

DEMOCRACY 

GREENLAW 


THE  LAKE  HISTORY  STORIES 


GIFT  OF 
K-D.LINCLiiT 


ECUCATI'^N  HFPT, 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http:7/www.archive.org/details/bijildersofdemocr00greerich 


BUILDERS  OF 
DEMOCRACY 


The  Service,  Told  in  Song  and  Story,  of 
Those  Who  Gave  Us  Freedom  d  n  n  The 
New  Crisis  and  How  It  Must  Be  Met  nan 
And  the  Greater  Freedom  That  Is  to  Come 


BY 

EDWIN  GREENLAW 
// 

KENAN   PROFESSOR    OF   ENGUSH    IN   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   NORTH   CAROLINA 


SCOTT,  FORESMAN  AND  COMPANY 
CHICAGO  NEW  YORK 


Copyright,   1918 

BY 

SCOTT.  FORESMAN  AND  COMPANY 


CbliCATION  DEPT- 


PREFACE 

This  book  may  be  used  as  a  supplementary  text  in  history 
and  English  classes,  or  as  an  independent  text.  The  selec- 
tions, taken  from  a  wide  variety  of  sources,  constitute  a 
body  of  patriotic  literature  that  will  not  fail  to  appeal  to 
boys  and  girls  to  whom  love  of  country,  in  these  stirring 
times,  is  becoming  a  very  real  thing.  The  study  helps  and 
questions  and  the  glossary  will  serve  to  connect  the 
selections  with  each  other  and  also  to  provide  material  for 
(.  lass-room  discussions. 

But  the  book  is  designed  also  to  serve  several  purposes 
not  included  in  the  usual  idea  of  a  mere  reader.  The  first 
of  these  may  be  defined  as  a  propaganda  for  good  citizen- 
ship which  is  approached  from  a  somewhat  new  angle.  The 
chief  purpose  of  the  book  is  this  presentation  of  a  definite 
conception  of  democratic  citizenship,  but  interest  and  con- 
creteness  are  gained  through  the  poems,  stories,  extracts 
from  histories  of  high  literary  value,  and  even  state  papers 
which  are  used  as  illustrations  of  this  conception.  The 
selections  have  been  chosen  in  such  a  way  as  to  present,  con- 
cretely and  cumulatively,  a  conception  of  patriotism  that  is 
founded  on  doing  as  well  as  believing,  on  conduct  as  well  as 
emotion,  on  cooperation  of  all  for  the  good  of  all  as  the  ideal 
of  democracy.  The  pupil  will  see  how  this  combination  of 
self-activity  and  cooperation  has  been  the  vital  principle  of 
democracy  from  the  earliest  times,  and  how  we  may  test  the 
spiritual  quality  of  any  age  or  generation  by  the  presence 
or  absence  of  this  principle  as  an  active  force  in  society. 

To  bring  out  this  conception,  the  three  parts  of  the  book 
are  named  The  Call  to  the  Colors,  The  Builders  and 

ill 


iv  Preface 

Their  Work,  and  Soldiers  of  Freedom.  In  Part  I,  which 
is  largely  a  matter  of  definition,  the  selections,  with  the 
explanatory  matter  that  accompanies  them,  bring  out  the 
difference  between  patriotic  emotion  and  cooperative  serv- 
ice. Concreteness  is  further  gained  through  the  application 
of  the  whole  matter  to  the  present  war,  both  national,  in- 
volving America's  relation  to  it,  and  individual,  including 
school  children  as  well  as  soldiers.  The  whole  conception 
gains  dramatic  value  through  the  vision  of  the  Nation 
responding  to  the  Call  to  the  Colors,  while  the  idea  that 
the  flag  not  only  represents  the  glorious  history  of  the 
nation,  but  also  depends,  for  its  meaning,  on  what  each 
generation  makes  of  it,  leads  naturally  to  the  subject 
treated  in  the  second  part  of  the  book. 

In  this  second  part,  a  series  of  twelve  pictures,  or 
dramatic  moments  in  the  history  of  English  and  American 
democracy,  is  given.  These  constitute  what  may  be  called 
the  epic  story  of  our  democracy.  Besides  their  fundamental 
interest,  they  have  an  advantage  through  concentration,  so 
that  the  imagination  of  the  pupil  can  grasp  something  of 
the  splendid  sweep  of  the  history  of  democracy  through  a 
long  period  of  time.  This  appeal  to  the  historical  imagina- 
tion of  the  child  is  a  valuable  aid  in  developing  sound 
ideals  of  patriotism,  and  this  mighty  drama,  presented 
through  the  words  and  deeds  of  those  who  in  many  cen- 
turies have  won  victories  for  humanity,  will  inspire  and 
uplift  all  who  look  upon  it.  In  fact,  teachers  may  find  it 
possible  to  present  these  twelve  scenes,  with  necessary 
omissions  and  condensations,  as  a  Masque  or  Eitual  of 
Democracy.  Throughout  Part  II,  as  in  Part  I,  the  appli- 
cation to  present  conditions  is  constant,  and  the  section 
closes  once  more  with  the  idea  that  liberty  is  a  heritage 


Preface  ^ 

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that  is  to  be  prized,  but  that  it  is  also  something  to  be  won, 
by  each  generation,  according  to  a  definition  which  each 
generation  must  work  out  for  itself. 

In  Part  III  there  is  less  expository  matter,  or  propa- 
ganda of  patriotism,  partly  because  the  foundations  have 
been  laid  and  there  can  be  no  mistake  in  interpretation, 
and  partly  because  of  the  nature  of  the  selections.  The 
spirit  that  unites  the  free  peoples  of  the  world  in  this  new- 
old  conflict  with  the  monster  of  tyranny,  finds  illustration 
in  song  and  story,  with  further  definition  in  several  prose 
pieces,  while  the  application  to  the  theme  of  the  book  is 
shown  by  the  pledge  of  America  in  response  to  the  call  of 
the  Allies,  by  the  account  of  the  making  of  our  youth  into 
defenders  of  this  pledge,  and  by  President  Wilson's  bene- 
diction upon  the  Soldiers  of  Freedom. 

The  second  of  the  special  purposes  proposed  in  the  book 
is  to  give  to  boys  and  girls  a  clear  idea  of  the  relationship 
between  England  and  America  as  the  joint  founders  of  free 
government  and  now  its  co-defenders.  We  have  singularly 
missed,  in  our  history  teaching,  the  full  meaning  of  this 
stupendous  achievement.  Too  often  England  has  been  seen 
as  a  monarchy,  the  hereditary  enemy  of  the  United  States. 
Too  often  national  vainglory  has  turned  upon  the  idea  of 
the  punishment  England  underwent  at  the  hands  of  our 
forefathers.  The  old  quarrel  has  been  kept  up,  the  old  bat- 
tles fought  over  and  over,  in  a  clumsy  and  dangerous  man- 
ner, for  generation  after  generation.  But  to  see  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution  as  a  stage  in*  the  development  of  free  gov- 
ernment for  England  as  well  as  for  America;  to  see  that 
our  institutions  have  grown  from  English  institutions  and 
are  of  the  same  organic  texture,  and  finally  to  see  that  now 
at  last  the  two  great  English-speaking  peoples  are  shoulder 


vi  Preface 

to  shoulder  in  a  fight  that  has  been  theirs  for  ages, — all 
this  is  an  inspiring  and  impressive  lesson  to  be  burnt  upon 
the  consciousness  of  all  those  youth  whose  eyes  shall  also 
see,  before  they  reach  the  three  score  and  ten  years  of  the 
psalmist,  that  dream  come  true  of  the  "The  United  Peoples 
of  the  World." 

Finally,  the  book  illustrates  certain  conceptions  about  the 
teaching  of  English.  For  example,  it  is  not  a  textbook  of 
English,  as  the  analysis  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  will 
show,  yet  it  is  a  collection  of  what  are  sometimes  called 
"masterpieces,"  and  it  will  undoubtedly  help  pupils  who 
study  it  "to  speak  and  write  the  English  language  cor- 
rectly." Literature  is  in  this  book  regarded  as  the  bible  of 
the  human  spirit,  its  records  as  authentic  as  battle  records 
or  dynasties  or  constitutions,  its  interpretations  as  divine  as 
the  spirit  of  man.  Facts  of  literary  history,  facts  of  style, 
facts  of  verse-form  are  all  subordinated  to  the  conviction 
that  the  chief  aim  of  the  pupil  should  be  to  ascertain  the 
meaning  of  what  poet  or  story-teller  has  to  say,  and  its 
application  to  his  life.  The  poem  or  story  will  be  read  not 
as  ai  source  of  pleasure  and  refreshment  alone,  a  dessert, 
something  to  break  the  monotony  of  serious  study,  but 
from  a  broader  point  of  view.  In  this  particular  selec- 
tion of  literature,  for  example,  two  special  purposes, 
described  above,  have  dictated  the  choice  of  material. 
Through  this  choice  it  has  been  possible  not  only  to  make 
use  of  the  power  of  imagination  and  beauty  concentrated 
in  the  individual  poem,  but  also  to  construct  new  units, 
by  which  the  poems  help  interpret  each  other  and  help 
also  to  bring  a  new  imaginative  and  dramatic  concep- 
tion to  life  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  boys  and  girls.  The 
Studies  and  Notes  have  been  designed  to  make  these  ideas. 


Preface  vii 

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and  the  applications  of  them,  as  clear  as  possible.  They 
should  be  carefully  studied,  as  they  are  essential  to  the 
plan.  They  are  not  supplied  everywhere,  because  in  many 
cases  the  nature  of  the  selection  requires  no  such  comment ; 
they  are  not  supplied  merely  for  pui-poses  of  examination. 
Of  course  others  may  be  added  at  the  discretion  of  teachers, 
and  those  that  are  given  may  be  used  in  a  variety  of  ways, — 
for  oral  discussion  by  pupils  in  class,  or  for  written  exer- 
cises, or  as  the  basis  for  talks  by  the  teacher.  The  plan 
of  the  book  is  such  as  to  stimulate  composition,  both  oral 
and  written,  by  giving  pupils  interesting  things  to  talk  and 
to  write  about. 

It  remains  to  add  a  few  words  of  personal  acknowledg- 
ment. For  the  use  of  copyrighted  material,  the  author  is 
indebted  to  the  following  authors  and  publishers: 

E.  P.  Button  and  Company:  "The  Beloved  Captain," 
from  A  Student  in  Arms,  by  Donald  Hankey;  and  "A 
Chant  of  Love  for  England,"  from  A  Chant  of  Love  for 
England,  and  Other  Poems,  by  Helen  Gray  Cone. 

The  John  Lane  Company:  Certain  passages  from  The 
Glory  of  the  Trenches,  by  Coningsby  Dawson,  copyright 
1918. 

Messrs.  Charles  Scribner^s  Sons:  "Vive  la  France," 
from  Scribner's  Magazine,  by  Charlotte  H.  Crawford,  copy- 
right 1916. 

Miss  Theodosia  Garrison :  "The  Soul  of  Jeanne  D'Arc," 
from  Scribner's  Magazine. 

The  Xew  York  Tribune  and  Mrs.  Grace  Ellery  Chan- 
ning-Stetson :    "Qui  Vive  ?"  by  Grace  Ellery  Channing. 

Payson  S.  Wild:  "File  Three,"  from  The  Chicago 
Tribune. 

To  Mr.  W.  H.  Elson,  the  author  is  under  obligations  too 


viii  Preface 

varied  and  numerous  to  admit  of  detailed  statement.  For 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  time  during  which  the  book 
was  in  active  preparation,  daily  conferences  were  held  at 
which  the  wide  experience  of  Mr.  Elson  as  a  school  man 
and  as  author  of  the  Elson  Readers  was  generously  and 
unreservedly  placed  at  the  service  of  the  author. 

The  last  of  these  special  debts  is  one  that  has  just  been 
transfigured  by  death.  In  the  tragic  passing  of  Mr.  Charles 
E.  S.  Fielden  the  author  has  lost  not  only  a  much-loved 
friend  but  a  wise  and  helpful  co-laborer  on  this  book,  all 
of  which,  save  only  these  paragraphs,  he  had  read  in  type. 
His  special  work,  outwardly,  had  to  do  with  types  and 
forms,  mechanical  details  of  book  manufacture.  But  such 
a  description  conveys  no  sense  of  the  love  that  he  had  for 
his  work,  or  of  his  fine  judgment  and  wide  knowledge  and 
never-failing  patience,  or  of  that  rich  personality  that  made 
him  like  one  of  the  old  books  that  he  loved  so  well.  Many 
were  the  books  that  he  made,  in  the  course  of  a  long  life, 
for  thousands  of  regiments  of  school  children  who  never 
knew  his  name.  And  the  builder  of  beautiful  books  for 
children  is  surely,  of  good  right,  one  of  the  Builders  of 
Democracy. 

E.  G. 


CONTENTS 

PART  ONE 
THE  CALL  TO  THE  COLORS 

I.  The  Flag  page 

The  Flag  Goes  By,  Henry  H.  Bennett 15 

II.  More  Than  the  Flag 

Flag  of  the  Seas!    Joseph  Rodman  Drake 17 

Captain  Orme's  Story 17 

The  Battle  of  Lake  Erie,  James  Fenimore  Cooper 20 

The  Fourth  of  July  in  1814,  General  Winfield  Scott.. . .  23 

How  the  National  Hymn  Was  Written,  F.  S.  Key-Smith  26 

The  Star-Spangled  Banner,  Francis  Scott  Key 29 

III.  Makers  of  the  Flag 

Makers  of  the  Flag,  Franklin  K.  Lane 31 

IV.  The  Work  That  We  Do  Is  the  Making  of  the  Flag 

I  Hear  America  Singing,  Walt  Whitman 35 

V.  The  Living  Flag 

Flag  Day  Address  (delivered  in  Washington,  June, 
1915),  Woodrow  Wilson 39 

VI.  Men  and  Kings 

Abraham  Lincoln  Walks  at  Midnight,  Vachel  Lindsay    46 

VII.  The  Call  to  the  Colors 

A  Peoples'  War  (delivered  in  Washington,  June,  1917), 
Woodrow  Wilson 50 

VIII.  The  Response 

Beat!     Beat!     Drums!     Walt  Whitman 60 

Lines  from  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson's  "Voluntaries". . .     62 

ix 


X  Contents 

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PART  TWO 
THE  BUILDERS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

I.  The  Story  of  Beowulf  page 

Beowulf  Awaits  the  Coming  of  Grendel 67 

Grendel  Enters  the  Great  Hall 68 

Beowulf's  Victory  Is  Celebrated 71 

Hrothgar  Seeks  Beowulf's  Aid  a  Second  Time 73 

Beowulf's  Victory  Over  Grendel's  Mother 75 

Beowulf  Returns  to  His  Warriors 78 

Beowulf's  Last  Adventure 78 

II.  The  Days  of  Knighthood  in  England 

How  Knighthood  Was  Won,  Samuel  B.  Harding 82 

The  Finding  of  Excalibur 84 

From  The  Passing  of  Arthur,  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson. .  93 

III.  How  the  Nobles  Won  a  Share  in  the  Government.  101 

IV.  Struggle  for  Liberty  in  Scotland 

The  Battle  of  Bannockburn,  Sir  Walter  Scott 105 

Bannockburn,  Robert  Burns 115 

V.  The  Sufferings  of  the  Poor  Man 

The  King  and  the  Peasants,  John  Richard  Green 118 

The  Peasants  and  Their  King,  John  Richard  Green.  . .  120 

VI.  A  New  World  and  What  It  Brought  to  England 

Ulysses,  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson 122 

Columbus,  Joaquin  Miller 125 

The  Defeat  of  the  Armada,  John  Richard  Green 130 

The  Revenge,  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson 136 

The  Sea-King's  Burial,  Charles  Mackay 141 

An  Ehzabethan  Seaman,  James  Anthony  Froude 145 

Ye  Mariners  of  England,  Thomas  Campbell 150 

VII,  The  Days  of  the  Puritans 

Vanity  Fair,  John  Bunyan : . . . .  155 

A  Pilgrim,  John  Bunyan 161 

The  Death  of  Hampden,  John  Richard  Green 163 

A  Poet  Who  Fought  for  Freedom 166 

VIII.  Parliament  Supreme  in  England,  and  the 

Beginnings  of  a  New  Liberty  in  America 

The  BiU  of  Rights 172 

The  Landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  in  New  England, 

Felicia  Hemans 174 

The  Compact  of  the  Pilgrims 177 


Contents  xi 

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IX.  The  Building  of  Democracy  in  the  American 

Colonies  page 

The  Gray  Champion,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne 179 

X.  Defenders  of  the  Rights  of  the  Poor  Man 

Elegy  Written  in  a  Country  Churchyard,  Thomas  Gray  192 

The  Story  of  Robert  Bums 196 

For  A'  That  and  A'  That,  Robert  Bums 199 

To  a  Mouse,  Robert  Bums 200 

From  A  Cotter's  Saturday  Night,  Robert  Bums 201 

XI.  The  Conflict  about  Free  Government  in  England 
AND  America  in  the  Eighteenth  Century 

The  Enghsh  Government 204 

Edmund  Burke,  the  Friend  of  America 209 

England  and  America  Natural  Allies,  John  Richard 

Green 213 

England  and  America  in  1782,  Alfred,  Lord  Tennyson . .  215 

XII.  How  Democracy  Has  Been  Carried  on  in  America 

A  Vision  of  Days  to  Come,  Woodrow  Wilson 217 

Lexington,  John  Greenleaf  Whittier 218 

Concord  Hymn,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 220 

Liberty  or  Death,  Patrick  Henry 221 

Acceptance  of  Appointment  as  Commander-in-Chief, 

George  Washington 226 

The  Liberty  Tree 227 

Washington    Anticipates    the    Declaration,     George 

Washington , 228 

From    The    Declaration    of    Independence,  Thomas 

Jefferson 229 

Supposed  Speech  of  John  Adams,  Daniel  Webster 233 

Hale  in  the  Bush 236 

Tunes  That  Try  Men's  Souls,  Thomas  Paine 238 

Song  01  Marion's  Men,  William  Cullen  Bryant 241 

Lafayette,  Robert  C.  Winthrop 243 

From  The  Farewell  to  the  Army,  George  Washington. .  247 
The  Twenty-Second  of   February,    William  Cullen 

Bryant 250 

Washington,  Jaines  Russell  Lowell 251 

The  American  Experiment,  Daniel  Webster 251 

Sacred  Obligations,  Daniel  Webster 256 

Ode,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 259 

The  Poor  Voter  on  Election  Day,  John  Greenleaf 

Whittier 261 

The  Gettysburg  Address,  Abraham  Lincoln 263 

To  Mrs.  Bixby,  Abraham  Lincoln 264 


xii  Contents 

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PAGE 

From  The  Second  Inaugural  Address,  Abraham  Lincoln  265 

O  Captain!    My  Captain!     Walt  Whitman 265 

Our  Martyr-Chief,  James  Russell  Lowell 266 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Woodrow  Wilson 268 

The  Antiquity  of  Freedom,  William  Cullen  Bryant 275 

The  Ship  of  State,  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow 277 


PART  THREE 
SOLDIERS  OF  FREEDOM 

To  America,  By  a  School  Girl  of  France 281 

The  Hills  of  Sacrifice,  David  Lloyd  George 281 

I.  Allies 

Belgium,  the  Bar-Lass,  A.  Mary  Robinson 284 

Heart  of  All  the  World  (Belgium),  Marion  C.  Smith. .  285 

The  Soul  of  Jeanne  D'Arc,  Theodosia  Garrison 286 

Qui  Vive?    Grace  Ellery  Channing 287 

Vive  la  France!     Charlotte  H.  Crawford 289 

A  Chant  of  Love  for  England,  Helen  Gray  Cone 290 

Attacking  with  the  Dawn,  David  Lloyd  George 291 

America,  a  Beacon  Light  of  Peace,  Gabriele  d'Annunzio..  293 
Why  We  Are  Fighting  Germany,  Franklin  K.  Lane. . .  296 
America's  Pledge   (Speech   Delivered  at  Baltimore, 
April  6,  1918),  Woodrow  Wilson 299 

II.  Battles  and  Heroes 

The  Hell-Gate  of  Soissons,  Herbert  Kaufman 305 

File  Three,  Payson  S.  Wild 308 

Your  Lad,  and  My  Lad,  Randall  Parrish 309 

A  Dispatch  Bearer,  From  the  Bulletin  of  the  Alliance 

Francaise 310 

The  Beloved  Captain,  Donald  Hankey 312 

Doing  Their  Bit,  Coningsby  Dawson 318 

DiscipHne,  Coningsby  Dawson 321 

To  Overcome  the  World,  Coningsby  Dawson 325 

III.  On  to  Victory 

Soldiers  of  Freedom,  Woodrdw  Wilson 326 

Glossary 327 


BUILDERS  OF  DEMOCRACY 


All  are  architects  of  fate, 

Working  in  these  walls  of  time; 

Some  with   massive   deeds   and   great, 
Some  with  ornaments  of  rhyme. 

— Longfellow. 


In  this  book  we  are  to  find  what  great  men — poets, 
statesmen,  citizens — have  said  about  the  ideals  for  which 
America  and  her  Allies  are  now  at  war.  The  book  is  thus 
a  means  by  which  we  may  learn  what  it  is  to  be  a  good 
American  citizen.  All  the  work  of  the  school,  of  course, 
has  the  same  purpose.  There  can  be  no  higher  ideal  for  a 
man  or  a  woman  than  to  try  to  be  a  good  citizen. 

To  be  a  good  citizen,  one  must  not  only  be  industrious, 
honest,  intelligent.  He  must  also  be  able  and  willing  to 
work  with  others,  so  that  his  community  is  a  good  place  in 
which  to  live.  He  must  take  an  intelligent  interest  in  gov- 
ernment, so  that  he  can  choose  good  officers  for  city  and 
state,  and  can  himself  be  a  good  officer  if  chosen  by  his 
fellows  to  serve  them.  He  must  know  what  the  nation's 
ideals  are,  and  must  help  to  form  these  ideals.  President 
Wilson  has  summed  up  the  whole  duty  of  citizenship  by 
saying  that  a  man  must  not  only  earn  a  living  but  also  be 
ready  to  help  forward  the  great  enterprises  of  the  human 
spirit. 

9 


lb       *  *        'Guilders  of  Democracy 

What  Men  Have  Done  for  Freedom 

This  last  sentence  is  a  little  difficult,  and  we  shall  need 
to  give  attention  to  the  two  things  that  it  tells  us.  '^To 
earn  a  living"  means  that  one  must  be  a  productive  member 
of  society,  not  one  who  lives  upon  others.  It  means  that  in 
America  men  have  what  they  do  not  always  have  in  other 
countries,  the  privilege  of  developing  in  business  or  a  pro- 
fession whatever  talent  they  possess,  so  that  they  may  attain, 
and  keep,  the  highest  rewards  of  their  intelligence  and 
industry.  In  ancient  Egypt,  wretched,  starving  men 
worked  as  slaves  upon  buildings  for  kings,  or  died  in  wars 
of  conquest  carried  on  by  kings.  In  ancient  Greece,  a 
highly  intelligent  group  of  men,  an  aristocracy,  lived  ad- 
mirable lives  that  were  made  secure  for  them  by  the 
work  of  their  unfortunate  fellows  who  were  not  thought 
worthy  of  any  freedom  of  opportunity.  In  Eussia  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  millions  of  peasants  had  no  land  of 
their  own,  had  no  tools  for  even  the  simple  needs  of 
farmers,  had  no  rights  to  any  money  or  property.  So  it  has 
been  through  history,  a  constant  struggle  on  the  part  of 
millions  of  men  and  women  merely  for  the  right  to  earn  a 
living.  In  America  it  is  not  so.  Our  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence stated  as  rights  that  cannot  be  taken  away,  "life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  The  history  of  the 
United  States  has  established  that  Declaration  forever. 

The  other  part  of  the  sentence,  "to  help  forward  the 
great  enterprises  of  the  human  spirit,"  points  out  an  obli- 
gation that  rests  upon  all  citizens  of  a  free  government. 
"America  means  opportunity,"  said  one  of  our  greatest 
writers.  To  those  who  established  the  colonies  at  James- 
town,  Plymouth,  and  elsewhere,  the  "opportunity"  they 


Builders  of  Democracy  11 

iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiMiniiiiiiiMniniiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiMitiiMiiiiiiMiiiiiiiHiiiiiim^ 

sought  was  escape  from  unendurable  conditions  in  England. 
To  the  millions  of  immigrants  who  have  come  to  us  from 
European  countries  during  the  last  century,  "opportunity" 
has  meant  a  similar  escape  from  oppression — the  privilege 
of  building  their  own  lives  and  fortunes.  To  many  Amer- 
icans in  recent  times,  "opportunity"  has  meant  the  privilege 
of  choosing  one's  career — to  be  a  lawyer  or  an  engineer  or 
a  manufacturer  and  to  win  the  highest  reward  in  money 
and  position  possible  to  one's  talents  and  industry.  The 
establishment  of  free  colonies  in  America  in  the  seventeenth 
century  was  one  of  the  enterprises  of  the  human  spirit. 
The  winning  of  independence  in  the  Revolutionary  war  was 
another  such  enterprise.  The  expansion  of  the  Eepublic 
through  the  western  territories,  a  mighty  western  empire, 
conquering  forest  and  plain,  building  great  cities,  develop- 
ing great  farms — these  also  have  been  enterprises  of  the 
American  spirit  during  the  last  century.  The  abolition 
of  slavery,  the  establishment  of  a  united  country,  the-  devel- 
opment of  our  system  of  government  to  meet  the  needs 
of  a  vast  population — all  these  are  illustrations  of  what 
the  human  spirit,  in  free  America,  has  accomplished.  "Be 
proud!  for  she  is  saved,"  cried  a  great  American  poet  at 
the  end  of  the  Civil  War— 

"She  that  lifts  up  the  manhood  of  the  poor. 
She  of  the  open  soul  and  open  door, 
With  room  about  her  heart  for  all  mankind !" 

A  New  Summons 

But  the  warfare  never  ends.  "Eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  liberty."  Some  of  the  foes  of  liberty  are  outside — 
they  are  made  visible  in  the  German  scheme  of  conquest 


12  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiMiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiMiiiiiiiiMiiiiniiiuiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiniiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 

and  world  dominion.  These  we  must  fight  if  we  would 
retain  our  liberty.  But  there  are  also  foes  at  home — self- 
ishness, a  "pursuit  of  happiness"  that  disregards  the  rights 
of  others,  a  wrong  idea  of  what  liberty  and  freedom  mean. 
To  keep  our  liberty  we  must  triumph  over  these  foes,  for- 
eign and  near  at  hand. 

For  what  avail  the  plow  or  sail. 
Or  land  or  life,  if  Freedom  fail? 

There  is  one  great  enterprise  of  the  human  spirit,  more 
splendid  and  far-reaching  than  any  that  have  gone  before, 
the  climax  of  centuries  of  struggle.  Our  country  is  so  vast 
in  extent  that  we  have  been  able  to  care  not  only  for  our 
own '  population  but  also  for  millions  of  poor  men  and 
women  who  found  in  Europe  no  opportunity  for  life,  lib- 
erty, and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  We  have  made  America 
an  asylum  of  refuge  for  all  who  were  oppressed,  a  safe 
place  in  the  world  for  democracy.  Now  we  have  found  that 
this  is  not  enough.  The  world  itself  is  to  be  made  safe  for 
democracy.  President  Wilson  has  spoken  of  this  new  enter- 
prise of  the  human  spirit  in  many  places.  "The  things 
which  we  have  always  carried  nearest  our  hearts,"  he  says, 
we  shall  fight  for.  Our  war  is  "for  democracy,  for  the  right 
of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their 
own  Governments,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small 
nations,  for  a  universal  dominion  of  right  by  such  a  concert 
of  free  peoples  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to  all  nations 
and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free.'' 

What  are  these  things  which  we  have  always  carried 
nearest  our  hearts?  What  is  the  purpose  for  which  the 
American  flag  is  now  once  more  unfurled  over  a  battlefield  ? 


Builders  of  Democracy  13 

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Why  is  that  flag  now  for. the  first  time  leading  armed  forces 
in  Europe?  These  are  questions  that  this  book  will  help 
you  to  answer.  And  this  book  will  help  you  also  to  answer 
some  other  questions  that  are  equally  important.  What  is 
your  part,  and  mine,  in  this  great  enterprise?  What  is  it 
to  be  "called  to  the  colors"? 

One  answer  that  may  help  you  to  find  others  in  the  pages 
that  follow  is  contained  in  the  following  little  incident.  In 
a  small  cabin  on  a  farm  far  out  in  the  country  lives  a  fam- 
ily which  possesses  little  beyond  the  bare  necessities  of  ex- 
istence. A  visitor  suggested  to  the  woman  of  the  house 
that  she  must  find  it  very  difficult  to  get  flour  in  these  days. 

"We  ain't  used  no  flour  in  six  months,"  was  the  reply. 

"What,  no  flour?    Why,  how  do  you  get  along?" 

"Oh,  we  eats  potaters,  mostly." 

'^ut  you  could  get  flour  if  you  tried,  couldn't  you?" 

"Well,  we  read  in  the  papers  awhile  back  as  how  folks 
oughtn't  to  use  no  flour  bein'  as  the  soldiers  needed  it.  So 
we  just  stopped." 

The  language  shows  that  this  woman  has  little  education. 
If  she  were  asked  questions  about  the  meaning  of  the  war 
or  the  events  of  the  war,  very  probably  she  could  not  an- 
swer. But  she  is  a  good  citizen.  She  is  willing  to  deny 
herself  for  others.  She  is  willing  to  co-operate  with  others 
in  this  great  enterprise.  She  has  answered  the  call  to 
the  colors  as  truly  as  any  young  man  who  goes  to  fight 
"over  there." 


PART  ONE 

THE  CALL  TO  THE  COLORS 

I.     THE  FLAG 

You  know  what  it  is  to  see  the  school  team,  or  the  college 
team  in  which  you  may  be  interested,  running  on  the  field 
at  the  start  of  a  big  game.  They  have  been  called  to  the 
colors  of  their  school,  and  they  will  defend  those  colors 
with  every  ounce  of  strength  they  possess.  It  is  not  only 
of  the  present  contest  that  they  think.  They  must  uphold 
the  tradition  of  the  school.  All  the  victories  won  by  your 
Bchool  teams  in  the  past  years  help  to  make  this  team  today 
the  object  of  your  admiration  and  support. 

You  feel  that  they  represent  you.  You  would  like  to 
help  them,  and  you  do  help  them  by  your  loyalty,  by  your 
shouts,  by  your  songs  and  cheers.  You  also  would  like  to 
be  able  to  "make"  that  team,  so  that  you  could  help  uphold 
the  honor  of  the  school. 

Now  watch  the  soldiers  marching  down  the  avenue,  ranks 
on  ranks  of  them,  marshalled  under  the  flag.  Here  is  the 
Nation's  "team,''  ready  to  do  battle  for  the  honor  of  the 
great  school  to  which  we  all  belong.  They  have  been  called 
to  the  colors. 

How  many  there  are  of  them!  And  how  strong  they 
look.  "Eyes  right,"  team  work  in  every  movement,  com- 
pany after  company  of  them,  until  the  regiment  has  passed 

by. 

Then  all  at  once  you  see  in  them  not  merely  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  men  in  uniform,  but  the  embodiment  of 

14 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  15 

iniiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiMiiiiiui^ 

our  nation's  stfength.  They  stand  for  the  nation,  as  your 
team  stands  for  the  school.  At  the  head  of  the  column 
the  colors  are  flying.  The  flag — Old  Glory  we  call  it — is 
the  symbol  of  the  strength  of  the  nation.  It  is  a  nation 
that  has  grown  mighty  through  the  years  that  stretch  from 
Jamestown  and  Plymouth,  from  Lexington  and  Concord. 
It  is  a  nation  that  has  filled  plain  and  forest,  has  drawn 
wealth  from  mine  and  farm-land,  has  built  great  cities  and 
vast  industries.  It  is  a  nation,  too,  that  has  given  safety 
and  freedom  not  only  to  those  born  under  its  flag  but  also 
to  millions  who  have  come  here  from  Europe  to  seek  a 
happier  life. 

It  is  this  pride  in  the  might  of  our  nation,  this  love  for 
the  flag  and  all  that  it  implies,  this  loyalty  that  is  the  ele- 
mentary virtue  of  patriotic  citizens  everywhere,  that  Mr. 
Bennett  has  expressed  in  his  poem,  "The  Flag  Goes  By." 

THE  FLAG  GOES  BY 

HENBY   H.    BENNETT 

1 

Hats  off! 

Along  the  streets  there  comes 

A  blare  of  bugles,  a  ruffle  of  drums, 

A  flash  of  color  beneath  the  sky : 

Hats  off! 
The  flag  is  passing  by ! 

2 

Blue  and  crimson  and  white  it  shines, 
Over  the  steel-tipped,  ordered  lines. 

Hats  off! 
The  colors  before  us  fly; 
But  more  than  the  flag  is  passing  by. 


16  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiniiiiiiiniiiiMuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiu^ 

3 

Sea  fights  and  land  fights,  grim  and  great. 
Fought  to  make  and  to  save  the  State : 
Weary  marches  and  sinking  ships; 
Cheers  of  victory  on  dying  lips; 

4 
Days  of  plenty  and  years  of  peace ; 
March  of  a  sliong  land's  swift  increase; 
Equal  justice,  right,  and  law. 
Stately  honor  and  reverend  awe; 

5 

Sign  of  a  nation,  great  and  strong 
To  ward  her  people  from  foreign  wrong : 
Pride  and  glory  and  honor, — all 
Live  in  the  colors  to  stand  or  fall. 

6 

Hats  off! 
Along  the  street  there  comes 
A  blare  of  bugles,  a  ruffle  of  drums ; 
And  loyal  hearts  are  beating  high : 

Hats  off! 
The  flag  is  passing  by! 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Find  in  the  poem  illustrations  of  the  way  in  which  the  flag 
signifies  the  might  of  the  nation. 

2.  What  is  meant  by  "more  than  the  flag  is  passing  by"? 

3.  Name  events  in  American  history  that  illustrate  each  line 
©f  the  third  stanza. 

4.  What  periods  of  our  history  are  referred  to  in  the  fourth 
stanza?  What  is  meant  by  "march  of  a  strong  land's  swift  in- 
«rease"  ?    By  "Equal    justice,  right,  and  law"  ? 

5.  What  part  have  you,  as  you  watch  the  soldiers  marching  by  ? 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  17 

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II.     MOEE  THAN  THE  FLAG 

Flag  of  the  seas!  on  ocean  wave 
Thy  stars  shall  glitter  o'er  the  brave; 
When  death,  careering  on  the  gale, 
Sweeps  darkly  round  the  bellied  sail, 
And  frighted  waves  rush  wildly  back 
Before  the  broadside's  reeling  rack. 
Each  dying  wanderer  of  the  sea 
Shall  look  at  once  to  heaven  and  thee, 
And  smile  to  see  thy  splendors  fly 
In  triumph  o'er  his  closing  eye. 
J  — Joseph  Rodman  Drake. 

"Sea  fights  and  land  fights"  have  helped  to  give  meaning 
to  the  Flag.  A  little  more  than  a  century  ago,  all  Europe 
was  at  war.  American  commerce  was  swept  from  the  seas, 
but  the  little  American  navy  measured  strength  with  the 
great  sea-power  of  England,  a  nation  that  had  defeated  the 
combined  naval  power  of  France  and  Spain  at  Trafalgar. 
In  1812  the  Constitution  compelled  the  British  warship 
Guerriere  to  surrender.  Captain  Orme,  an  American  naval 
officer  whose  ship  had  been  captured  by  the  Guerriere,  tells 
of  his  experience  as  a  British  prisoner  during  the  fight. 


CAPTAIN  ORME'S  STORY 

I  commanded  the  American  brig  Betsey,  in  the  year 
1812,  and  was  returning  home  from  Naples,  Italy,  to  Bos- 
ton. When  near  the  western  edge  of  the  Grand  Bank  of 
Newfoundland,  on  the  10th  of  August,  1812,  I  fell  in  with 
the  British  frigate  Guerriere,  Captain  Dacres,  and  was  cap- 
tured by  him.  Myself  and  a  boy  were  taken  on  board  of 
the  frigate;  the  remainder  of  my  officers  and  men  were 


18  Builders  of  Democracy 

miiiuiiiimiiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiniiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiriiiiiMiiiMiiniiiiiuiiiiiniiniuiiiii'iiiiiHiniMiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiniiiniiiiii^^ 

left  in  the  Betsey,  and  sent  into  Halifax,  N.  S.,  as  a  prize 
to  the  Guerriere. 

On  the  19th  of  the  same  month,  the  wind  being  fresh 
from  the  northward,  the  Guerriere  was  under  double-reefed 
topsails  during  all  the  forenoon  of  this  day.  At  2  p.m.  we 
discovered  a  large  sail  to  windward,  bearing  about  North 
from  us.  We  soon  made  her  out  to  be  a  frigate.  She  was 
steering  off  from  the  wind,  with  her  head  to  the  southwest, 
evidently  with  the  intention  of  cutting  us  off  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Signals  were  soon  made  by  the  Guerriere,  but  as  they 
were  not  answered,  the  conclusion  of  course  was,  that  she 
was  either  a  French  or  an  American  frigate.  Captain 
Dacres  appeared  anxious  to  ascertain  her  character,  and 
after  looking  at  her  for  that  purpose,  handed  me  his  spy- 
glass, requesting  me  to  give  him  my  opinion  of  the  stranger. 
I  soon  saw  from  the  peculiarity  of  her  sails,  and  from  her 
general  appearance,  that  she  was,  without  doubt,  an  Ameri- 
can frigate,  and  communicated  the  same  to  Captain  Dacres. 
He  immediately  replied,  that  he  thought  she  came  down 
too  boldly  for  an  American,  but  soon  after  added,  "The 
better  he  behaves,  the  more  honor  we  shall  gain  by  taking 
him." 

The  two  ships  were  rapidly  approaching  each  other, 
when  the  Guerriere  backed  her  maintopsail,  and  waited  for 
her  opponent  to  come  down  and  commence  the  action.  He 
then  set  an  English  flag  at  each  masthead,  beat  to  quarters, 
and  made  ready  for  the  fight.  When  the  strange  frigate 
came  down  to  within  two  or  three  miles  distance,  he  hauled 
upon  the  wind,  took  in  all  his  light  sails,  reefed  his  top- 
sails, and  deliberately  prepared  for  action.     It  was  now 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  19 

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about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  he  filled  away 
and  ran  down  for  the  Guerriere  .  At  this  moment,  Captain 
Dacres  politely  said  to  me,  "Captain  Orme,  as  I  suppose  you 
do  not  wish  to  fight  against  your  own  countrymen,  you  are 
at  liberty  to  go  below  the  water-line."  It  was  not  long  after 
this  before  I  retired  from  the  quarter-deck  to  the  cockpit. 

Of  course  I  saw  no  more  of  the  action  until  the  firing 
ceased,  but  I  heard  and  felt  much  of  its  effects;  for  soon 
after  I  left  the  deck,  the  firing  commenced  on  board  the 
Guerriere,  and  was  kept  up  almost  constantly  until  about 
six  o'clock,  when  I  heard  a  tremendous  explosion  from  the 
opposing  frigate.  The  effect  of  her  shot  seemed  to  make 
the  Guerriere  reel  and  tremble  as  though  she  had  received 
the  shock  of  an  earthquake.  Immediately  after  this,  I 
heard  a  tremendous  crash  on  deck,  and  was  told  the  mizzen- 
mast  was  shot  away.  In  a  few  moments  afterward  the 
cockpit  was  filled  with  wounded  men. 

At  about  half-past  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  after  the 
firing  had  ceased,  I  went  on  deck,  and  there  beheld  a  scene 
which  it  would  be  difficult  to  describe.  All  the  Guerriere's 
masts  were  shot  away,  and  as  she  had  no  sails  to  steady  her, 
she  lay  rolling  like  a  log  in  the  trough  of  the  sea.  The  decks 
were  covered  with  blood,  the  gun  tackles  were  not  made 
fast,  and  several  of  the  guns  got  loose,  and  were  surging 
to  and  fro  from  one  side  to  the  other. 


In  the  same  year  Captain  Lawrence,  dying  in  the  midst 
of  the  battle  between  the  American  ship  Chesapeake  and 
the  British  Shannon,  called  out  as  he  was  being  borne 
below,  "Don't  give  up  the  ship !" 

In  June  of  1813,  Captain  Perry  won  his  great  victory 


20  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiNiiiiiiiiuiiiiuiililiitlilllliiiiiiiiniiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiinnniiiHiiiiiuiuiiinniiim 

over  the  British  fleet  on  Lake  Erie.  James  Fenimore 
Cooper,  whose  stories  of  Indian  life  are  better  known  than 
his  history  of  the  American  navy,  tells  us  about  the  battle. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE 

JAMES   FENIMOEE   COOPER 

The  English  vessels  presented  a  very  gallant  array,  and 
their  appearance  was  beautiful  and  imposing.  Their  line 
was  compact,  with  the  heads  of  the  vessels  still  to  the 
southward  and  westward;  their  ensigns  were  just  opening 
to  the  air;  their  vessels  were  freshly  painted,  and  their 
canvas  was  new  and  perfect.  The  American  line  was  more 
straggling.  The  order  of  battle  required  them  to  form 
within  half  a  cable's  length  of  each  other,  but  the  schooners 
astern  could  not  close  with  the  vessels  ahead,  which  sailed 
faster,  and  had  more  light  canvas,  until  some  considerable 
time  had  elapsed. 

A  few  minutes  before  twelve,  the  Detroit  (Br.)  threw  a 
twenty-four  pound  shot  at  the  Lawrence  (Am.),  then  on 
her  weather  quarter,  distant  between  one  and  two  miles. 
Captain  Perry  now  passed  an  order  by  trumpet,  through 
the  vessels  astern,  for  the  line  to  close  to  the  prescribed 
order ;  and  soon  after  the  Scorpion  was  hailed,  and  directed 
to  begin  her  long  run.  At  this  nioment,  the  Ameri- 
can vessels  in  line  were  edging  down  upon  the  English, 
those  in  front  being  necessarily  nearer  to  the  enemy  than 
those  more  astern,  with  the  exception  of  the  Ariel  and 
Scorpion,  which  two  schooners  had  been  ordered  to  keep 
well  to  windward  of  the  Lawrence.  As  the  Detroit  had  an 
armament   of   long   guns.    Captain  ^arclay    (the   British 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  21 

JIIMIIIIIinillllllllllNIMIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIitllllllllllllllllllllllllllMltinillllllllllinilllllllllllHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIII 

commander)  manifested  his  judgment  in  commencing  the 
action  in  this  manner;  and  in  a  short  time,  the  firing  be- 
tween that  ship,  the  Lawrence,  and  the  two  schooners  at 
the  head  of  the  American  line,  got  to  be  very  animated. 

The  Lawrence  now  showed  a  signal  for  the  squadron 
to  close,  each  vessel  in  her  station,  as  previously  designated. 
A  few  minutes  later  the  vessels  astern  began  to  fire,  and 
the  action  became  general  but  distant.  The  Lawrence, 
however,  appeared  to  be  the  principal  aim  of  the  enemy, 
and  before  the  firing  had  lasted  any  material  time,  the 
Detroit,  Hunter,  and  Queen  Charlotjte  were  directing  most 
of  their  efforts  against  her.  The  American  brig  endeavored 
to  close,  and  did  succeed  in  getting  within  reach  of  can- 
ister, though  not  without  suffering  materially,  as  she 
fanned  down  upon  the  enemy.  At  this  time,  the  support 
of  the  two  schooners  ahead,  which  were  well  commanded 
and  fought,  was  of  the  greatest  moment  to  her;  for  the 
vessels  astern,  though  in  the  line,  could  be  of  little  use  in 
diverting  the  fire,  on  account  of  their  positions  and  the 
distance.  After  the  firing  had  lasted  some  time,  the 
Niagara  hailed  the  Caledonia,  and  directed  the  latter  to 
make  room  for  the  former  to  pass  ahead.  .  .  .  Captain 
Perry,  finding  himself  in  a  vessel  that  had  been  rendered 
nearly  useless  by  the  injuries  she  had  received,  and  which 
was  dropping  out  of  the  combat,  got  into  his  boat,  and 
pulled  after  the  Niagara,  on  board  of  which  vessel  he  ar- 
rived at  about  half-past  two.  Soon  after,  the  colors  of  the 
Lawrence  were  hauled  down,  that  vessel  being  literally  a 
wreck. 

WTien  the  enemy  saw  the  colors  of  the  Lawrence  come 
down,  be  confidently  believed  that  he  had  gained  the  day. 


22  Builders  of  Democracy 

HiiiiniiiiiiiiniMiiiiiiiinniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

His  men  appeared  over  the  bulwarks  of  the  different  ves- 
sel and  gave  three  cheers.  For  a  few  minutes,  indeed,  there 
appears  to  have  been,  as  if  by  common  consent,  nearly  a 
general  cessation  in  the  firing,  during  which  both  parties 
were  preparing  for  a  desperate  and  final  effort.  The  wind 
had  freshened,  and  the  position  of  the  Niagara,  which  brig 
was  now  abeam  of  thp  leading  English  vessel,  was  com- 
manding; while  the  gun- vessels  astern,  in  consequence  of 
the  increasing  breeze,  were  enabled  to  close  very  fast. 

At  45  minutes  past  2,  or  when  time  had  been  given  to 
the  gun-vessels  to  receive  the  order  mentioned.  Captain 
Perry  showed  the  signal  from  the  Niagara  for  close  action, 
and  immediately  bore  up,  under  his  foresail,  topsails,  and 
topgallantsail.  As  the  American  vessels  hoisted  their  an- 
swering flags,  this  order  was  received  with  three  cheers, 
and  it  was  obeyed  with  alacrity  and  spirit.  The  enemy  had 
attempted  to  wear  round,  to  get  fresh  broadsides  to  bear,  in 
doing  wliich  his  line  got  into  confusion,  and  the  two  ships 
for  a  short  time  were  foul  of  each  other,  while  the  Lady 
Prevost  had  so  far  shifted  her  berth  as  to  be  both  to  the 
westward  and  to  the  leeward  of  the  Detroit. 

At  this  critical  moment,  the  Niagara  came  steadily 
down,  within  half  pistol  shot  of  the  enemy,  standing  be- 
tween the  Chippewa  and  Lady  Prevost,  on  one  side  and  the 
Detroit,  Queen  Charlotte,  and  Hunter  on  the  other.  In 
passing,  she  poured  in  her  broadsides,  starboard  and  lar- 
board, ranged  ahead  of  the  ships,  luffed  athwart  their  bows, 
and  continued  delivering  a  close  and  deadly  fire.  The 
shrieks  from  the  Detroit  proclaimed  that  the  tide  of  battle 
had  turned.  At  the  same  moment,  the  gun-vessels  and 
Caledonia  were  throwing  in  close  discharges  of  grape  and 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  23 

nnitiiniiiiiiniMiiniiiiiniiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 

canister  astern.  A  conflict  so  fearfully  close,  and  so  deadly, 
was  necessarily  short.  In  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  after 
the  Niagara  bore  up,  a  hail  was  passed  among  the  small 
vessels,  to  say  that  the  enemy  had  struck,  and  an  officer  of 
the  Queen  Charlotte  appeared  on  the  taffrail  of  that  ship, 
waving  a  white  handkerchief,  bent  to  a  boarding  pike. 


You  can  easily  find  other  stories  written  by  men  who 
took  part  in  stirring  events  in  which  the  Flag  acquired 
new  authority.  Among  the  "land  fights,"  for  example. 
General  Winfield  Scott's  account  of  the  battle  of  Chippewa, 
in  1814,  shows  how  brave  American  soldiers  a  century  ago 
kept  the  Fourth  of  July  in  time  of  war. 

THE  FOURTH  OF  JULY  IN  1814 

GEXERAL  WIXFIELD   SCOTT 

Early  in  the  march,  a  little  above  Blackrock,  a  consid- 
erable body  of  the  enemy  was  discovered.  It  proved  to  be 
a  corps  of  observation  under  the  command  of  the  Marquis 
of  Tweedale.  All  hearts  leapt  with  joy  at  the  chance  of 
doing  something  worthy  of  the  anniversary,  and  to  cheer 
our  desponding  countrymen  at  home — something  that  might 
ever,  on  that  returning  day — 

Be  in  their  flowing  cups  freshly  remembered. 

The  events  of  the  day,  however,  proved  most  tantalizing. 
An  eager  pursuit  of  sixteen  miles  ensued.  The  heat  and 
dust  were  scarcely  bearable;  but  not  a  man  flagged.  All 
felt  that  immortal  fame  lay  within  reach.  .  .  .  Finally, 
toward  sunset,  the  enemy  were  driven  across  the  Chippewa 
River.  .  .  . 


24  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiuiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiMiiniiiniiiiiiiiMiiiMiMUMiiiniiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMtniiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

The  anniversary  dinner  cooked  for  Scott's  brigade,  with 
many  extras  added  by  him  in  honor  of  the  day,  happily 
came  over  from  Schlosser  on  the  5th,  and  was  soon  dis- 
patched by  officers  and  men,  who  had  scarcely  broken  fast 
in  thirty-odd  hours. 

To  keep  his  men  in  breath,  he  had  ordered  a  parade  for 
grand  evolutions  in  the  cool  of  the  afternoon.  For  this 
purpose  there  was,  below  the  creek,  a  plain  extending  back 
from  the  Niagara  of  some  hundred  of  yards  in  the  broader 
part,  and  a  third  narrower  lower  down.  From  the  dinner, 
without  expecting  a  battle,  though  fully  prepared  for  one, 
Scott  marched  for  this  field.  The  view  below  from  his 
camp  was  obstructed  by  the  brushwood  that  fringed  the 
creek;  but  when  arrived  near  the  bridge  at  its  mouth,  he 
met  Major  General  Brown,  coming  in  at  full  gallop,  who, 
in  passing,  said  with  emphasis,  "You  will  have  a  battle !" 
and,  without  halting,  pushed  on  to  the  rear  to  put  Eipley's 
brigade  in  motion — supposing  that  Scott  was  perfectly 
aware  of  the  near  approach  of  the  entire  British  army  and 
going  out  expressly  to  meet  it. 

The  head  of  his  (Scott's)  column  had  scarcely  entered 
the  bridge  before  it  was  met  by  a  fire,  at  an  easy  distance, 
from  nine  field  guns.  Towson's  battery  quickly  responded, 
with  some  effect.  The  column  of  our  infantry,  greatly 
elongated  by  the  diminution  of  front,  to  enable  it  to  pass 
the  narrow  bridge,  steadily  advanced,  though  with  some 
loss,  and  battalion  after  battalion  when  over  formed  line  to 
the  left  and  front,  under  the  continued  fire  of  the  enemy's 
battery.  When  Scott  was  seen  approaching  the  bridge. 
General  Riall  (the  British  commander),  who  had  dispersed 
twice  his  numbers  the  winter  before,  in  his  expedition  on 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  25 

niMiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiMiiituiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 

the  American  side  (of  the  boundary  between  Canada  and 
the  United  States),  said,  "It  is  nothing  but  a  body  of 
Buffalo  militia !"  But  when  the  bridge  was  passed  in  fine 
style,  under  his  heavy  fire  of  artillery,  he  added  with  an 
oath,  "Why,  these  are  regulars !"  The  gray  coats  at  first 
deceived  him,  which  Scott  was  obliged  to  accept,  there 
being  no  blue  cloth  in  the  country.  In  compliment  to  the 
battle  of  Chippewa,  our  military  cadets  have  worn  gray 
coats  ever  since.  Two  hostile  lines  were  now  in  view  of 
each  other,  but  a  little  beyond  the  effective  range  of  mus- 
ketry. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  model  American  brigade,  not- 
withstanding the  excessive  vigor  and  prowess  exerted  the 
day  before,  had  failed  in  the  ardent  desire  to  engraft  its 
name,  by  a  decisive  victory,  on  the  great  national  anni- 
versary. The  same  corps  again  confronting  the  enemy,  but 
in  an  open  field,  Scott,  riding  rapidly  along  the  line,  threw 
out  a  few  short  sentences — among  them,  alluding  to  the 
day  before,  was  this :  "Let  us  make  a  new  anniversary  for 
ourselves!"  .  .  .  And  it  has  often  happened,  if  not  al- 
ways, when  Fourths  of  July  have  fallen  on  Sundays,  that 
Chippewa  has  been  remembered  at  the  celebrations  of  Inde- 
pendence on  the  5th  of  July. 

So  General  Scott  and  his  men,  when  the  nation's  years 
were  yet  the  years  of  young  men,  found  in  the  anniversary 
inspiration  for  a  great  victory.  To  them,  "more  than  the 
flag  was  passing  by." 

But  you  should  realize  that  "more  than  the  flag"  means 
the  defeats  and  discouragements  as  well  as  the  victories. 
General  Scott,  you  will  remember,  speaks  of  the  desire  to 


26  Builders  of  Democracy 

lllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIinillllll^ 

do  something  that  would  encourage  '^our  desponding  coun- 
trymen at  home."  The  year  of  Chippewa  and  Lund/s 
Lane  saw  also  the  capture  and  burning  of  "Washington 
and  the  ripening  of  the  plot  in  New  England  to  oppose 
the  further  continuation  of  the  war.  Even  secession  was 
talked  of.  Divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  making 
war,  lacking  a  large  and  disciplined  army  to  make  effective 
the  protests  of  the  government  against  the  abuses  directed 
against  the  American  people,  forced  to  build  a  navy  almost 
under  fire  of  hostile  guns,  Americans  suffered  in  defeat  as 
well  as  rejoiced  in  victory. 

The  true  spirit  of  the  nation,  however,  is  symbolized  by 
the  story  of  the  writing  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  a 
story  that  can  not  be  too  often  told.  You  will  remember 
that  Francis  Scott  Key  wrote  the  h}Tnn  while  a  prisoner  on 
the  British  fleet  that  was  attacking  Baltimore  in  1814. 

''You  may  imagine,"  he  writes,  "what  a  state  of  anxiety 
I  endured.  ...  To  make  my  feelings  still  more  acute, 
the  Admiral  had  intimated  his  fears  that  the  town  must 
be  burned,  and  I  was  sure  that  if  taken  it  would  have  been 
given  to  plunder." 

Mr.  F.  S.  Key-Smith,  a  descendant  of  the  author  of 
the  national  h3rmn,  has  given  an  interesting  account  of  the 
way  in  which  it  was  written. 

HOW  THE  NATIONAL  HYMN  WAS  WRITTEN 

F.   S.  KEY-SMITH 

Between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
British,  with  one  or  two  rocket  and  several  bomb-vessels 
manned  by  1200  picked  men,  attempted,  under  cover  of 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  27 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiMiiniiMiniiiiiiitiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

darkness,  to  slip  past  the  fort  and  up  the  Patapsco,  hoping 
to  effect  a  landing  and  attack  the  garrison  in  the  rear. 

Succeeding  in  evading  the  gnns  of  the  fort,  but  unmind- 
ful of  Fort  Covington,  under  whose  batteries  they  next 
came,  their  enthusiasm  over  the  supposed  success  of  the 
venture  gave  way  in  a  derisive  cheer,  which,  borne  by  the 
damp  night  air  to  our  small  party  of  Americans  on  the 
Minden  (the  ship  on  which  Key  was  held),  must  have 
chilled  the  blood  in  their  veins  and  pierced  their  patriotic 
hearts  like  a  dagger. 

Fort  Covington,  the  lazaretto,  and  the  American  barges 
in  the  river  now  simultaneously  poured  a  galling  fire  upon 
the  unprotected  enemy,  raking  them  fore  and  aft,  in  hor- 
rible slaughter.  Disappointed  and  disheartened,  many 
wounded  and  dying,  they  endeavored  to  regain  their  ships, 
which  came  closer  to  the  fortifications  in  an  endeavor  to 
protect  their  retreat.  A  fierce  battle  ensued.  Fort  Mc- 
Henry  opened  the  full  force  of  all  her  batteries  upon  them 
as  they  repassed,  and  the  fleet  responding  with  entire 
broadsides  made  an  explosion  so  terrific  that  it  seemed  as 
though  Mother  Earth  had  opened  and  was  vomiting  shot 
and  shell  in  a  sheet  of  fire  and  brimstone. 

The  heavens  aglow  were  a  seething  sheet  of  flame,  and 
the  waters  of  the  harbor,  lashed  into  an  angry  sea  by  the 
vibrations,  the  Minden  rode  and  tossed  as  though  in  a  tem- 
pest. It  is  recorded  that  the  houses  in  the  city  of  Baltimore, 
two  miles  distant,  were  shaken  to  their  foundations.  Above 
the  tempestuous  roar,  intermingled  with  its  hubbub  and 
confusion,  were  heard  the  shrieks  and  groans  of  the  dying 
and  wounded.  But  alas!  they  were  from  the  direction  of 
the  fort.    What  did  it  mean?    For  over  an  hour  the  pan- 


28  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiniiiiuiiiiniiiMnMiiiMMiiniiiMiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiitiimmiiimmriiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 

demonmm  reigned.  Suddenly  it  ceased — all  was  quiet,  not 
a  shot  fired  or  sound  heard,  a  deathlike  stillness  prevailed, 
as  the  darkness  of  night  resumed  its  sway.  The  awful  still- 
ness and  suspense  were  unbearable.  With  the  approach  of 
dawn  Mr.  Key  turned  his  weary  and  bloodshot  eyes  in  the 
direction  of  the  fort  and  its  flag,  but  the  darkness  had 
given  place  to  a  heavy  fog  of  smoke  and  mist  which  now 
enveloped  the  harbor  and  hung  close  down  to  the  surface 
of  the  water.  .  .  .  Some  time  must  yet  elapse  before 
anything  definite  might  be  ascertained,  or  the  object  of  his 
aching  heart's  desire  discerned.  At  last  it  came.  A  bright 
streak  of  gold  mingled  with  crimson  shot  athwart  the 
eastern  sky,  followed  by  another  and  still  another,  as  the 
morning  sun  arose  in  the  fulness  of  his  glory,  lifting  "the 
mists  of  the  deep,"  crowning  a  "Heaven-blest  land''  with 
a  new  victory  and  grandeur. 

Through  a  vista  in  the  smoke  and  vapor  could  now  be 
dimly  seen  the  flag  of  his  country.  As  it  caught  "The 
gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam,"  and  "in  full  glory  re- 
flected shone  in  the  stream"  his  proud  and  patriotic  heart 
knew  no  bounds;  the  wounds  inflicted  "by  the  battle's  con- 
fusion" were  healed  instantly  as  if  by  magic;  a  new  life 
sprang  into  every  fiber,  and  his  pent-up  emotions  burst 
forth  with  an  inspiration  in  a  song  of  praise,  victory,  and 
thanksgiving  as  he  exclaimed: 

"  'Tis  the  star-spangled  banner ;    0  long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave!" 

The  first  draft  of  the  words  were  emotionally  scribbled 
upon  the  back  of  a  letter  which  he  carried  in  his  pocket 
and  of  which  he  made  use  to  dot  down  some  memoranda  of 
his  thoughts  and  sentiments.   .    .    .   Copies  of  the  song 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  29 

MiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimin 

were  struck  off  in  handbill  fonn,  and  promiscuously  dis- 
tributed on  the  street.  Catching  with  popular  favor,  like 
prairie  fire  it  spread  in  every  direction,  was  read  and  dis- 
cussed, until,  in  less  than  an  hour,  the  news  was  all  over 
the  city.  Picked  up  by  a  crowd  of  soldiers  assembled,  some 
accounts  put  it,  about  Captain  McCauley's  tavern,  next  to 
the  Holiday  Street  Theater,  others  have  it  around  their 
tents  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  Ferdinand  Durang,  a 
musician,  adapted  the  words  to  the  old  tune  of  "Anacreon 
in  Heaven,"  and,  mounting  a  chair,  rendered  it  in  fine  style. 
On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  it  was  again  rendered  upon 
the  stage  of  the  Holiday  Street  Theater  by  an  actress,  and 
the  theater  is  said  to  have  gained  thereby  a  national  repu- 
tation. In  about  a  fortnight  it  had  reached  New  Orleans 
and  was  publicly  played  by  a  military  band,  and  shortly 
thereafter  was  heard  in  nearly,  if  not  all>  the  principal 
cities  and  towns  throughout  the  country. 

THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER 

FRANCIS  SCOTT  KET; 

0  say,  can  you  see,  by  the  dawn's  early  light. 

What  so  proudly  we  hailed  at  the  twilight's  last  gleaming  ? 
Whose  broad  stripes  and  bright  stars,  through  the  perilous 
fight. 

O'er  the  ramparts  we  watched  were  so  gallantly  stream- 
ing! 
And  the  rockets'  red  glare,  the  bombs  bursting  in  air. 
Gave  proof  through  the  night  that  our  flag  was  still  there ; 

0  say,  does  that  star-spangled  banner  yet  wave 

O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave? 

On  the  shore  dimly  seen  through  the  mists  of  the  deep. 
Where  the  foe's  haughty  host  in  dread  silence  reposes. 


30  Builders  of  Democracy 

IIIIIIIIIIIUHIIillMIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIMIIIHIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII^ 

What  is  that  which  the  breeze,  o'er  the  towering  steep, 

As  it  fitfully  blows,  now  conceals,  now  discloses? 
Now  it  catches  the  gleam  of  the  morning's  first  beam. 
In  full  glory  reflected  now  shines  on  the  stream : 
'Tis  tiie  star-spangled  banner ;  0  long  may  it  wa^ 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 

And  where  is  that  band  who  so  vauntingly  swore 
That  the  havoc  of  war  and  the  battle's  confusion 

A  home  and  a  country  should  leave  us  no  more  ? 

Their  blood  has  washed  out  their  foul  footsteps'  pollution. 

No  refuge  could  save  the  hireling  and  slave 

From  the  terror  of  flight,  or  the  gloom  of  the  grave; 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  doth  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 

0  thus  be  it  ever,  when  freemen  shall  stand 

Between  their  loved  homes  and  the  war's  desolation ! 

Blest  with  victory  and  peace,  may  the  heaven-rescued  land 
Praise  the  power  that  hath  made  and  preserved  us  a 
nation. 

Then  conquer  we  must,  for  our  cause  it  is  just, 

And  this  be  our  motto — "In  God  is  our  trust." 

And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 


III.     MAKERS  OF  THE  FLAG 

In  Mr.  Bennett's  poem  we  found  the  suggestion  that 
"more  than  the  flag  is  passing  by."  Some  illustrations 
of  the  meaning  of  this  sentence  have  just  been  given — 
American  history,  in  peace  and  war,  is  symbolized  by  the 
Flag.  It  gains  a  deeper  meaning  for  us,  therefore,  when 
we  call  to  mind  its  history. 

American  soldiers  and   sailors  are   now  engaged  in  a 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  31 

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war  far  greater  than  any  that  has  preceded,  are  fighting 
in  battles  beside  which  Chippewa  and  Lake  Erie  and  Bal- 
timore were  minor  engagements.  They  are  making  new 
history  for  the  Flag,  to  give  it  new  sacredness  in  our  own 
and  in  future  generations.  But  they  are  not  the  only 
Makers  of  the  Flag. 

Carpenters  and  mechanics  who  build  ships  to  carry  wheat 
to  our  Allies,  farmers  who  raise  foodstuffs,  men  and 
women  and  boys  and  girls  who  co-operate  with  the  Food 
Administration  in  saving  necessary  foods,  all  who  help 
the  Government  in  the  immense  task  of  raising  the  money 
necessary  to  enable  us  to  win  the  victory,  all  of  us  who 
devote  our  time  and  our  energies,  so  far  as  we  can,  to 
thinking  and  winning  victory — all  these  are  Makers  of 
the  Flag  who  are  now  called  to  the  Colors.  Democracy 
means  co-operation. 

In  June,  1914,  when  all  the  world  was  still  at  peace, 
Mr.  Franklin  K.  Lane  spoke  to  the  five  thousand  officers 
and  employees  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  about 
the  Makers  of  the  Flag. 

MAKERS  OF  THE  FLAG 

FRANKLIN    K.    LANE 

This  morning  as  I  passed  into  the  Land  Office,  the 
Flag  dropped  me  a  most  cordial  salutation,  and  from  its 
rippling  folds  I  heard  it  say:  "Good  morning,  Mr.  Flag 
Maker." 

"I  beg  your  pardon.  Old  Glory,"  I  said;  "aren't  you 
mistaken?  I  am  not  the  President  of  the  United  States 
nor  a  member  of  Congress  nor  even  a  general  in  the  army. 
I  am  only  a  Government  clerk." 


32  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiMiMiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiMiiiMiiMuniniiiiiiMiiMiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiniiiniiniiiniiMii^ 

"I  greet  you  again,  Mr.  Flag  Maker/'  replied  the  gay 
voice;  "I  know  you  well.  You  are  the  man  who  worked 
in  the  swelter  of  yesterday  straightening  out  the  tangle 
of  that  farmer's  homestead  in  Idaho,  or  perhaps  you  found 
the  mistake  in  'the  Indian  contract  in  Oklahoma,  or  helped 
to  clear  that  patent  for  the  hopeful  inventor  in  New  York, 
or  pushed  the  opening  of  that  new  ditch  in  Colorado,  or 
made  that  mine  in  Illinois  more  safe,  or  brought  relief 
to  the  old  soldier  in  Wyoming.  No  matter,  whichever  one 
of  these  beneficent  individuals  you  may  happen  to  be,  I  give 
you  greeting,  Mr.  Flag  Maker." 

I  was  about  to  pass  on,  when  the  Flag  stopped  me  with 
these  words: 

"Yesterday  the  President  spoke  a  word  that  made  hap- 
pier the  future  of  ten  million  peons  in  Mexico;  but  that 
act  looms  no  larger  on  the  flag  than  the  struggle  which 
the  boy  in  Georgia  is  making  to  win  the  Corn  Club 
prize  this  summer. 

"Yesterday  the  Congress  spoke  a  word  which  will  open 
the  door  of  Alaska;  but  a  mother  in  Michigan  worked 
from  sunrise  until  far  into  the  night,  to  give  her  boy  an 
education.    She,  too,  is  making  the  flag. 

"Yesterday  we  made  a  new  law  to  prevent  flnancial 
panics,  and  yesterday,  maybe,  a  school  teacher  in  Ohio 
taught  his  first  letters  to  a  boy  who  will  one  day  write 
a  song  that  will  give  cheer  to  the  millions  of  our  race. 
We  are  all  making  the  flag." 

"But,"  I  said  impatiently,  "these  people  were  only 
working!"     Then  came  a  great  shout  from  the  Flag: 

"The  work  that  we  do  is  the  making  of  the  flag. 

"I  am  not  the  flag;  not  at  all.  I  am  nothing  more 
than  its  shadow. 


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"I  am  whatever  you  make  me,  nothing  more. 

"I  am  your  belief  in  yourself,  your  dream  of  what 
a  People  may  become. 

"I  live  a  changing  life,  a  life  of  moods  and  passions, 
of  heartbreaks  and  tired  muscles. 

^'Sometimes  I  am  strong  with  pride,  when  workmen 
do  an  honest  piece  of  work,  fitting  rails  together  truly. 

"Sometimes  I  droop,  for  then  purpose  has  gone  from 
me,  and  cynically  I  play  the  coward. 

"Sometimes  I  am  loud,  garish,  and  full  of  that  ego  that 
blasts  judgment. 

"But  always,  I  am  all  that  you  hope  to  be,  and  have 
the  courage  to  try  for. 

"  I  am  song  and  fear,  struggle  and  panic,  and  ennobling 
hope. 

"I  am  the  da/s  work  of  the  weakest  man,  and  the 
largest  dream  of  the  most  daring. 

"I  am  the  Constitution  and  the  courts,  the  statutes 
and  the  statute  makers,  soldier  and  dreadnaught,  drayman 
and  street  sweep,  cook,  counselor,  and  clerk. 

"I  am  the  battle  of  yesterday,  and  the  mistake  of  to- 
morrow. 

"I  am  the  mystery  of  the  men  who  do  without  knowing 
why. 

"I  am  the  clutch  of  an  idea,  and  the  reasoned  purpose 
of  resolution, 

"I  am  no  more  than  what  you  believe  me  to  be,  and  I 
am  all  that  you  believe  I  can  be. 

"I  am  what  you  make  me,  nothing  more. 

"I  swing  before  your  eyes  as  a  bright  gleam  of  color,  a 
symbol  of  yourself,  the  pictured  suggestion  of  that  big 


34  Builders  of  Democracy 

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thing  which  makes  this  nation.  My  stars  and  my  stripes 
are  your  dream  and  your  labors.  They  are  bright  with 
cheer,  brilliant  with  courage,  firm  with  faith,  because 
you  have  made  them  so  out  of  your  hearts.  For  you 
are  the  makers  of  the  flag  and  it  is  well  that  you  glory 
in  the  making.'' 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  What  does  Mr.  Lane  mean  by  saying  that  the  Georgia  boy, 
the  mother  in  Michigan,  the  school  teacher  in  Ohio,  are  all  Mak- 
ers of  the  Flag?  How  do  you  think  of  the  United  States — as  a 
great  population  ruled  by  a  President,  a  Congress,  and  a  judiciary 
at  Washington,  and  by  the  various  state  and  city  governments, 
with  an  army  and  a  navy  for  defence,  or  as  something  more? 
What  is  it,  do  you  think,  to  be  an  American?  Does  it  only  mean 
the  right  to  vote  and  to  hold  office?  Have  you  any  part  in 
America? 

2.  What  kinds  of  service  does  Mr.  Lane  have  in  mind — service 
for  one's  self  alone?  What  ideas  about  life,  held  by  some 
people,  does  he  omit?  Put  into  a  paragraph  a  statement  about 
"How  the  farmer  helps  make  the  Flag."  (For  "farmer"  you  may 
substitute  the  occupation  of  the  man  or  woman  who  is  the  best 
flag-maker  you  know.) 

3.  "I  am  your  belief  in  yourself,  your  dream  of  what  a  people 
may  become."  What  do  you  think  is  meant  by  "belief  in  your- 
self"? Name  several  illustrations  of  what  you  would  like  to  see 
our  country  become — ^your  ideals  of  a  great  nation.  Which  of 
these  ideals  would  you  like  to  see  made  real  in  your  own  life  and 
career  ? 

4.  Think  of  several  ways  in  which  your  school  can  co-operate 
in  making  the  flag. 


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IV.     "THE  WORK  THAT  WE  DO  IS  THE  MAKING 
OF  THE  FLAG." 

America  has  had  many  men  and  women  who  have 
written  of  democracy.  Among  them  none  has  expressed 
60  fully  the  idea  of  co-operation  and  brotherhood  as  has 
Walt  Whitman.  Several  of  his  poems,  therefore,  are  to 
be  found  in  various  parts  of  this  book.  He  was  devoted  to 
Lincoln,  and  wrote  his  most  beautiful  poems  about  the 
death  of  his  friend.  He  saw  hospital  service  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  wrote  intimately  and  tenderly  about  the 
sufferings  of  wounded  and  dying  soldiers.  He  loved  men^ 
the  crowds  on  the  Brooklyn  ferries,  and  the  thousands 
who  made  homes  in  the  great  western  wilderness.  His 
point  of  view,  in  many  things  that  he  wrote,  is  like 
that  of  Secretary  Lane — "the  work  that  we  do  is  the 
making  of  the  flag." 

In  the  lines  that  follow,  the  good  gray  poet,  as  he  has 
been  called,  tells  us  about  America  at  work,  and  singing 
about  the  work — "strong  with  pride,  when  workmen  do  an 
honest  piece  of  work,  fitting  rails  together  truly." 

• 

I  HEAR  AMERICA  SINGING 

WALT  WHITMAN 

I  hear  America  singing,  the  varied  carols  I  hear. 
Those  of  mechanics,  each  one  singing  his  as  it  should  be, 

blithe  and  strong. 
The  carpenter  singing  his  as  he  measures  his  plank  or  beam, 
The  mason  singing  his  as  he  makes  ready  for  work,  or 

leaves  off  work. 
The  boatman  singing  what  belongs  to  him  in  his  boat,  the 

deck-hand  singing  on  the  steamboat  deck. 


36  Builders  of  Democracy 

IIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIilllllllllllllllllSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIiniHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlillllllllliuiiuilM 

The  shoemaker  singing  as  he  sits  on  his  bench,  the  hatter 

singing  as  he  stands, 
The  wood-cutters'  song,  the  plowboy's  on  his  way  in  the 

morning,  or  at  noon  intermission  or  at  sundown. 
The  dfelicious  singing  of  the  mother,  or  of  the  young  wife 

at  work,  or  of  the  girl  sewing  or  washing. 
Each  singing  what  belongs  to  him  or  her  and  to  none  else. 
The  day  what  belongs  to  the  day — at  night  the  party  of 

young  fellows,  robust,  friendly. 
Singing  with  open  mouths  their  strong  melodious  songs. 

V.     THE  LIVING  FLAG. 

You  see,  by  this  time,  that  the  idea  that  the  soldiers 
are  the  team,  and  that  the  fia,g  is  the  banner  of  the  school 
to  which  we  all  belong,  is  quite  insufficient.  You  are 
not  on  the  side-lines,  cheering  the  team  to  victory:  you 
have  a  part  to  play.  That  thought  about  the  past  victories 
was  all  right  in  aj  way,  but  it  did  not  go  far  enough.  We 
can't  think,  for  example,  "Our  soldiers  showed  at  Chippewa 
the  kind  of  stuif  Uncle  Sam  manufactures,  and  our  sailors 
on  Lake  Efie  showed  what  kind  of  team  we  can  put  out 
in  an  All- World  Series,  and  that's  what  we  are  going  to 
do  to  Germany."  That  is,  we  can't  think  of  these  things 
and  just  sit  back  in  our  seats  in  the  grandstand  and  watch 
the  game. 

For,  now  that  we  think  of  it,  who  is  Uncle  Sam?  Is 
he  the  Government,  pictured  as  a  rather  funny  looking 
old  gentleman  who  kindly  watches  over  us,  takes  care  of 
us,  keeps  the  burglars  away  with  his  gun? 

You  are  Uncle  Sam. 

In  a  patriotic  celebration  held  not  long  ago  in  one  of 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  37 

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our  large  cities,  hundreds  of  school  children,  dressed  in 
the  colors  of  the  flag,  were  arranged  on  the  side  of  a  hill 
in  such  a  way  as  to  form  a  gigantic  American  flag.  That 
is  one  way  to  get  the  idea  that  the  flag  is  not  a  mere 
banner,  a  piece  of  colored  bunting.     It  is  alive! 

When  we  read,  in  an  oration  in  praise  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  that  "white  is  for  purity,  red  for  valor,  blue  for 
justice;  and  altogether,  bunting,  stripes,  stars,  and  colors, 
blazing  in  the  sky,  make  the  flag  of  our  country  to  be 
cherished  by  all  our  hearts,  to  be  upheld  by  all  our  hands," 
— when  we  read  this,  it  becomes  a  question  with  us  as  to 
whether  we  really  mean  these  things  or  whether  they  are 
only  words. 

So,  too,  when  we  get  on  our  feet  and  sing, 

"  *Ti8  the  Star  Spangled  Banner ;  0   long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave," — 

what  do  we  really  get  out  of  "land  of  the  free  and  the 
home  of  the  brave"?  Is  it  merely  sentiment,  enthusiasm 
for  something  vaguely  felt  or  something  that  we  think  we 
ought  to  feel,  a  sort  of  tribute  to  Revolutionary  heroes  now 
little  more  than  names  in  our  history  books,  something 
outside  ourselves,  not  ourselves?  If  so,  we  have  not  yet 
found  out  what  it  is  to  be  an  American. 

Two  ideas  stand  out  in  what  we  have  read  thus  far.  The 
first  is  that  the  flag  is  something  far  deeper  than  a  combi- 
nation of  colors  signifying  purity,  valor,  justice.  It  is 
the  treasure  won,  in  blood  and  devotion,  by  those  who 
made  us  a  nation,  and  added  to  by  countless  others  through 
the  long  years  until  at  length  it  has  passed  into  our  keep- 
ing. And  the  other  idea  is  that  the  flag  was  not  made, 
once  for  all,  by  Betsy  Ross  and  adopted  by  Congress  as 


38  Builders  of  Democracy 

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the  emblem  of  the  nation,  just  as  the  Union  Jack  is  the 
emblem  of  Great  Britain  and  the  tri-color  the  emblem  of 
France,  but  that  it  is  made  new,  horn  again,  in  each  gener- 
ation. This  re-making  is  our  chief  business — all  of  us — 
in  this  world. 

With  these  two  ideas  in  mind,  you  are  prepared  to  read 
President  Wilson's  address,  delivered  in  Washington  in 
June,  1915.  Here  are  some  of  the  things  to  look  for  as 
you  read: 

1.  In  the  first  place,  notice  what  is  said  about  think- 
ing and  speaking  about  the  flag  in  terms  of  "vague 
sentiment.^'  When  Mr.  Key  wrote  his  hymn  to  the  flag, 
it  wasn't  vague  sentiment  with  him,  for  we  have  seen 
what  a  terrible  experience  is  back  of  these  words.  (Mark 
this  word  experience,  because  Mr.  Wilson  will  use  it  pres- 
ently and  you  will  wish  to  know  what  it  means.)  But  our 
singing  of  these  words  may  easily  be  mere  vague  sentiment, 
unless  we  are  watchful.  And  when  we  read,  or  some  one 
tells  us  in  a  Fourth  of  July  oration,  that  "white  is  for 
purity,  red  for  valor,  blue  for  justice,"  it  is  vague  sentiment 
for  us  so  long  as  the  purity,  valor,  and  justice  seem  to  us 
to  be  in  the  flag  and  not  in  our  own  lives.  As  Mr.  Wilson 
puts  it,  it  is  the  experience,  that  is,  the  actual  living  of 
men  and  women,  that  gives  meaning  to  the  flag. 

2.  Again,  Mr.  Wilson  tells  us  more  about  this  "liv- 
ing under  the  flag."  Great  men  have  expressed  the  mean- 
ing of  America  through  what  they  have  done  and  through 
what  they  have  said  for  our  guidance.  By  so  doing,  they 
"have  coined  our  hearts  into  action  or  into  words."  Thus 
we  see  once  more  that  "more  than  the  flag  is  passing  by." 
The  heroic  past  has  made  the  flag  what  it  is. 


The  Coll  to  the  Colors  39 

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3.  But  as  we  read  on  we  notice  that,  after  all,  "the  real 
experience  and  life  of  a  nation  lies  with  the  great  multi- 
tudes of  unknown  men,"  not  with  government  officials  and 
generals  and  orators  and  poets.  T\Tiat  these  ordinary  and 
apparently  unimportant  people  are  and  what  they  desire  to 
be  are  the  elements  that  give  meaning  to  the  flag.  To  put 
it  in  another  way,  the  life  of  the  nation  is  not  in  the  poli- 
tician, nor  in  the  platforms  of  political  parties,  but  in  "that 
voiceless  mass  of  men  who  merely  go  about  their  daily 
tasks."  Thus  the  idea  about  "makers  of  the  flag"  is  once 
more  brought  before  us.  "The  work  that  we  do  is  the 
making  of  the  flag." 

4.  Finally,  we  learn  why  we  celebrate  the  Fourth  of 
July,  but  we  are  also  reminded  that  "there  are  no  days 
when  we  should  be  more  patriotic  than  on  other  days,"  and 
at  the  end  of  the  address  the  President  asks  us  to  wear 
the  flag  in  our  hearts.    Thus  it  becomes  the  living  flag. 


FLAG  DAY  ADDRESS 

WOODROW  WILSON  • 

I  know  of  nothing  more  difficult  than  to  render  an 
adequate  tribute  to  the  emblem  of  our  nation.  For  those 
of  us  who  have  shared  that  nation's  life  and  felt  the  beat 
of  its  pulse  it  must  be  considered  a  matter  of  impossibility 
to  express  the  great  things  which  that  emblem  embodies. 
I  venture  to  say  that  a  great  many  things  are  said  about 
the  flag  which  very  few  people  stop  to  analyze.  For 
me  the  flag  does  not  express  a  mere  body  of  vague  senti- 
ment. The  flag  of  the  United  States  has  not  been  created 
by  rhetorical  sentences  in  declarations  of  independence  and 


40  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiMiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinNMiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiiiinniiMiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiuiiiniiiMiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiHiiiiiiiiiMm^ 

in  bills  of  rights.  It  has  been  created  by  the  experience 
of  a  great  people,  and  nothing  is  written  upon  it  that 
has  not  been  written  by  their  life.  It  is  the  embodiment, 
not  of  a  sentiment,  but  of  a  history,  and  no  man  can 
rightly  serve  under  that  flag  who  has  not  caught  some 
of  the  meaning  of  that  history. 

Experience,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  made  by  men  and 
women.  National  experience  is  the  product  of  those  who 
do  the  living  under  that  flag.  It  is  their  living  that  has 
created  its  significance.  You  do  not  create  the  meaning 
of  a  national  life  by  any  literary  exposition  of  it,  but  by 
the  actual  daily  endeavors  of  a  great  people  to  do  the  tasks 
of  the  day  and  live  up  to  the  ideals  of  honesty  and  right- 
eousness and  just  conduct.  And  as  we  think  of  these 
things,  our  tribute  is  to  those  men  who  have  created  this 
experience.  Many  of  them  are  known  by  name  to  all  the 
world,  statesmen,  soldiers,  merchants,  masters  of  industry, 
men  of  letters  and  of  thought,  who  have  coined  our  hearts 
into  action  or  into  words.  Of  these  men  we  feel  that  they 
have  shown  us  the  way.  They  have  not  been  afraid  to 
go  before.  They  have  known  that  they  were  speaking  the 
thoughts  of  a  great  people  when  they  led  that  great  people 
along  the  paths  of  achievement.  There  was  not  a  single 
swashbuckler  among  them.  They  were  men  of  sober,  quiet 
thought,  the  more  effective  because  there  was  no  bluster  in 
it.  They  were  men  who  thought  along  the  lines  of  duty, 
not  along  the  lines  of  self-aggrandizement.  They  were 
men,  in  short,  who  thought  of  the  people  whom  they  served 
and  not  of  themselves. 

But  while  we  think  of  these  men  and  do  honor  to  them 
as  to  those  who  have  shown  us  the  way,  let  us  not  forget 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  41 

iiiiiiiiimiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiuiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiunitiiiiiiiMiiiiiiuiiuiiiiii^ 

that  the  real  experience  and  life  of  a  nation  lies  with  the 
great  multitude  of  unknown  men.  It  lies  with  those  men 
whose  names  are  never  in  the  headlines  of  newspapers,  those 
men  who  know  the  heat  and  pain  and  desperate  loss  of  hope 
that  sometimes  comes  in  the  great  struggle  of  daily  life; 
not  the  men  who  stand  on  the  side  and  comment,  not  the 
men  who  merely  try  to  interpret  the  great  struggle,  but 
the  men  who  are  engaged  in  the  struggle.  They  constitute 
the  body  of  the  nation.  This  flag  is  the  essence  of  their 
daily  endeavors.  This  flag  does  not  express  any  more  than 
what  they  are  and  what  they  desire  to  be. 

As  I  think  of  the  life  of  this  great  nation  it  seems  to 
me  that  we  sometimes  look  in  the  wrong  places  for  its 
sources.  We  look  to  the  noisy  places,  where  men  are 
talking  in  the  market  place;  we  look  to  where  men  are 
expressing  their  individual  opinions;  we  look  to  where 
partisans  are  expressing  passions:  instead  of  trying  to 
attune  our  ears  to  that  voiceless  mass  of  men  who  merely 
go  about  their  daily  tasks,  try  to  be  honorable,  try  to  serve 
the  people  they  love,  try  to  live  worthy  of  the  great  com- 
munities to  which  they  belong.  These  are  the  breath 
of  the  nation's  nostrils;  these  are  the  sinews  of  its  might. 

How  can  any  man  presuma  to  interpret  the  emblem  of 
the  United  States,  the  emblem  of  what  we  would  fain  be 
among  the  family  of  nations,  and  find  it  incumbent  upon 
us  to  be  in  the  daily  round  of  routine  duty?  This  is 
Flag  Day,  but  that  only  means  that  it  is  a  day  when  we 
are  to  recall  the  things  which  we  should  do  every  day 
of  our  lives.  There  are  no  days  of  special  patriotism. 
There  are  no  days  when  we  should  be  more  patriotic  than 
on  other  days.     We  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July  merely 


42  Builders  of  Democracy 

because  the  great  enterprise  of  liberty  was  started  on  the 
fourth  of  July  in  America,  but  the  great  enterprise  of 
liberty  was  not  begun  in  America.  It  is  illustrated  by  the 
blood  of  thousands  of  martyrs  who  lived  and  died  before 
the  great  experiment  on  this  side  of  the  water.  The  Fourth 
of  July  merely  marks  .the  day  when  we  consecrated  our- 
selves as  a  nation  to  this  high  thing  which  we  pretend  to 
serve.  The  benefit  of  a  day  like  this  is  merely  in  turn- 
ing away  from  the  things  that  distract  us,  turning  away 
from  the  things  that  touch  us  personally  and  absorb  our 
interest  in  the  hours  of  daily  work.  We  remind  our- 
selves of  those  things  that  are  greater  than  we  are,  of 
those  principles  by  which  we  believe  our  hearts  to  be 
elevated,  of  the  more  difficult  things  that  we  must  under- 
take in  these  days  of  perplexity  when  a  man's  judgment 
is  safest  only  when  it  follows  the  line  of  principle. 

I  am  solemnized  in  the  presence  of  such  a  day.  I  would 
not  undertake  to  speak  your  thoughts.  You  must  interpret 
them  for  me.  But  I  do  feel  that  back,  not  only  of  every 
public  official,  but  of  every  man  and  woman  of  the  United 
States,  there  marches  that  great  host  which  has  brought 
us  to  the  present  day;  the  host  that  has  never  forgotten 
the  vision  which  it  saw  at  the  birth  of  the  nation ;  the  host 
which  always  responds  to  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  of 
liberty;  the  host  that  will  always  constitute  the  strength 
and  the  great  body  of  friends  of  every  man  who  does  his 
duty  to  the  United  States. 

I  am  sorry  that  you  do  not  wear  a  little  flag  of  the 
Union  every  day  instead  of  some  days.  I  can  only  ask 
you,  if  you  lose  the  physical  emblem,  to  be  sure  that  you 
wear  it  in  your  heart,  and  the  heart  of  America  shall 
interpret  the  heart  of  the  world. 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  43 

iiiMiiiiiiiiiiniitiiiiiiiiimiitiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiniiniiiiiiiiiniiiiiiMiiiiiiMiiiniiniiiiiiinniiniMriiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiii 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Is  Mr.  Wilson  satisfied  with  thinking  of  the  flag  merely  as 
the  sign  of  patriotic  sentiment? 

2.  What  relations  do  you  notice  between  the  first  paragraph 
and  the  poem  by  Mr.  Bennett? 

3.  What  relations  between  the  second  and  third  paragraphs 
and  Mr.  Lane's  idea?  Between  these  paragraphs  and  the  poem 
by  Walt  Whitman? 

4.  Think  carefully  of  the  expression  "coin  our  hearts  into 
action  or  into  words."  Who  are  the  ones  "who  have  created  this 
experience"?  See  if  you  can  tell  why  both  these  expressions  apply 
to  America  but  would  not  apply  to  Germany.  With  the  phrase 
"coin  our  hearts"  compare  what  Mr.  Wilson  says,  in  the  last . 
paragraph,   about  wearing  the  flag  in  our  hearts. 

5.  Think  carefully  of  the  meanings  of  the  words  "swash- 
buckler" and  "self-aggrandizement."  Find  simpler  words  to  ex- 
press the  same  meaning.  What  two  undemocratic  ideals  do  they 
express?  Make  these  wrong  ideals  clear  by  thinking  of  illustra- 
tions of  them. 

6.  What  better  ideal  of  democracy  is  expressed  in  the  third 
paragraph?  Does  democracy,  then,  mean  merely  the  right  to  vote 
and  to  hold  office?  Does  it  mean  being  a  Republican  or  a 
Democrat? 

7.  Explain  what  is  meant  by  "there  are  no  days  of  special 
patriotism." 

8.  Explain  "the  great  enterprise  of  liberty  was  not  begun  in 
America."  What  other  nations  or  peoples  preceded?  What  other 
peoples  are  engaged  in  the  enterprise  today? 

9.  What  is  it  to  wear  the  flag  in  your  heart? 

10.  In  what  sense  is  the  heart  of  America  now  interpreting  the 
heart  of  the  world  ? 

11.  Write  your  answers  to  two  of  the  questions  given  above. 


44  Builders  of  Democracy 

itiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiuiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiniiiiiiiiiiMiitiiiiiiinriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 

VI.     ^^MEN"  AND  KINGS" 

President  Wilson  has  said  that  the  American  flag  speaks 
to  us  of  "a  great  plan  of  life  worked  out  by  a  great  people.'* 
Some  of  the  principles  on  which  this  plan  of  life  rests  have 
been  made  clear  in  the  selections  you  have  read.  The 
greatest  of  these  is  the  idea  of  creating  national  ideals 
through  the  co-operative  work  and  thought  of  the  people. 
Each  generation  gives  to  the  flag  its  significance. 

The  difference,  then,  between  a  plan  of  life  such  as  that 
which  we  know  here  in  America  and  the  plan  of  life  known 
in  Germany  is  that  the  German  citizen  is  told  what  he 
must  think  and  what  he  must  do.  He  is  not  expected  to 
think  for  himself  or  to  join  with  his  fellows  in  building 
the  kind  of  State  they  think  is  best.  To  put  it  in  another 
way:  in  Germany  the  man  belongs  to  the  State,  is  the 
property  of  the  State;  in  America  government  belongs  to 
the  people,  who  make  the  state  what  they  desire  it  to  be. 
In  the  one  case  "kings,'*  that  is  over-lords^  are  supreme; 
in  the  other,  "men'*  are  supreme. 

For  a  generation  Germany  prepared  for  war.  Her 
people  were  taxed  heavily  to  maintain  great  military  and 
naval  establishments,  brought  to  the  highest  degree  of 
efficiency.  Her  people  were  taught  to  expect  war,  to  pre- 
pare for  it,  to  want  it.  When  the  Prussian  government 
thought  the  right  time  had  come  this  vast  machine  was 
set  in  motion  in  an  effort  to  crush  free  peoples  everywhere. 
The  result  was  suffering  without  parallel.  Men  were 
sacrificed  to  the  evil  ambitions  of  kings  as  in  the  old  days 
when  some  Alexander,  or  Caesar,  or  Napoleon  tried  to  form 
a  world  empire  on  the  bones  of  thousands  and  millions  of 
peasants. 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  45 

iiiiniiiiiiiriiiMiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiuiiiiriiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiniiiiiiMiiiiiiHiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMniiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiin 

In  these  awful  days  the  heart  of  America  went  out  in 
pity  to  all  the  sufferers.  A  Christmas  ship  filled  with 
toys  was  sent  to  the  unhappy  children  who  were  tortured 
and  torn  by  the  agony  of  war.  A  great  commission,  organ- 
ized on  a  scale  familiar  only  in  the  vast  industrial  and 
commercial  enterprises  of  America,  was  formed  to  feed 
whole  nations  and  to  keep  them  from  death.  In  such 
ways  the  American  spirit  of  co-operation,  of  love  and 
pity,  of  sympathy  for  the  man  as  distinct  from  the  king, 
was  manifested.  The  burden  of  the  sufferings  of  mankind 
was  on  American  hearts. 

An  old  prophet  speaks  of  the  coming  of  nations  to  the 
Valley  of  Decision,  to  meet  a  high  test. 

"Multitudes,  multitudes  in  the  Valley  of  Decision,  for 
the  Day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in  the  Valley  of  Decision. 
The  sun  and  the  moon  are  darkened,  and  the  stars  with- 
draw their  shining." 

Belgium,  France,  England,  Italy,  and  their  Allies,  and 
now  America,  have  all  had  to  pass  through  this  Valley. 
The  trying  days  before  it  became  clear  that  America 
must  also  enter  the  Great  War  were  such  a  test.  It  was 
a  period  of  preparation,  not  the  kind  of  preparation  that 
Germany  had  been  making  for  forty  years,  but  of  testing 
the  principles  on  which  America  is  founded. 

The  flag  was  "being  made  once  more! 

American  thought  during  this  period  turned  to  tlie 
great  words  from  Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural : 

''With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  finish  the  work  we  are  in — ^to  bind  up  one  another's 


46  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^^^^^ 

wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle, 
and  for  his  widow  and  orphans;  to  do  all  which  may- 
achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  our- 
selves and  with  all  nations." 

This  sjrmpathy,  this  desire  to  co-operate  in  constructive 
work  for  the  benefit  of  men,  this  passion  for  peace,  is  one 
note  in  Mr.  Lindsay^s  poem,  "Abraham  Lincoln  Walks  at 
Midnight."  To  this  is  added  the  thought  that  men  are 
once  more  subjected  to  frightful  pain  to  gratify  the  lusts 
of  kings,  and  the  poem  closes  with  the  call  for  the  deliverer 
who  is  to  realize  for  the  world  "the  shining  hope  of  Europe 
free." 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  WALKS  AT  MIDNIGHT 

(In  Springfield,  Illinois) 

VACHEL  LINDSAY 

It  is  portentous,  and  a  thing  of  state 
That  here  at  midnight,  in  our  little  town, 
A  mourning  figure  walks,  and  will  not  rest, 
Near  the  old  court-house  pacing  up  and  down. 

Or  by  his  homestead,  or  in  shadowed  yards 
He  lingers  where  his  children  used  to  play ; 
Or  through  the  market,  on  the  well-worn  stones 
He  stalks  until  the  dawn-stars  burn  away. 

A  bronzed,  lank  man !    His  suit  of  ancient  black, 
A  famous  high  top-hat  and  plain  worn  shawl 
Make  him  the  quaint  great  figure  that  men  love. 
The  prairie-lawyer,  master  of  us  all. 

He  cannot  sleep  upon  his  hillside  now. 
He  is  among  us : — as  in  times  before  ! 
And  we  who  toss  and  lie  awake  for  long 
Breathe  deep,  and  start,  to  see  him  pass  the  door. 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  4i7 

fniniiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiniuiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiii^ 

His  head  is  bowed.    He  thinks  on  men  and  kings. 
Yea,  when  the  sick  world  cries,  how  can  he  sleep  ? 
Too  many  peasants  fight,  they  know  not  why. 
Too  many  homesteads  in  black  terror  weep. 

The  sins  of  all  the  war-lords  burn  his  heart. 
He  sees  the  dreadnaughts  scouring  every  main. 
He  carries  on  his  shawl-wrapped  shoulders  now 
The  bitterness,  the  folly,  and  the  pain. 

He  cannot  rest  until  a  spirit-dawn 
Shall  come ; — the  shining  hope  of  Europe  free : 
The  league  of  sober  folk,  the  Worker's  Earth 
Bringing  long  peace  to  Cornland,  Alp,  and  Sea. 

It  breaks  his  heart  that  kings  must  murder  still. 
That  all  his  hours  of  travail  here  for  men 
Seem  yet  in  vain.    And  who  will  bring  white  peace 
That  he  may  sleep  upon  his  hill  again  ? 


VII.     THE  CALL  TO  THE  COLOKS 

We  now  reach  the  crisis.  The  American  Nation,  in  the 
Valley  of  Decision,  makes  its  choice. 

There  is  a  close  relation  between  the  material  you  have 
studied  in  this  book  and  the  reasons  that  brought  the 
United  States  into  the  war.  To  see  this  clearly,  there  is 
no  better  way  than  to  study  the  address  given  by  the 
President  on  Flag  Day,  1917. 

You  will  at  once  notice  the  relation  of  the  sentence, 
"It  (the  flag)  has  no  other  character  than  that  which  we 
give  it  from  generation  to  generation" — to  the  matter 
previously  studied.  The  flag  is  the  symbol  of  a  "great 
plan  of  life  worked  out  by  a  great  people.''    The  question 


48  Builders  of  Democracy 

iniiimiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiuiiuiuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuH 

proposed  by  the  President  for  us  to  consider  is  whether 
the  flag  is  now  carried  into  battle  for  some  new  purpose, 
or  for  the  "old,  familiar,  heroic  purpose  for  which  it  has 
seen  men,  its  own  men,  die  on  every  battleHeld  upon 
which  Americans  have  borne  arms  since  the  Eevolution." 

The  answer  is  found  in  the  fact  that  "this  is  a  People's 
War,  a  war  for  freedom  and  justice  and  self  government 
amongst  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  a  war  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  the  peoples  who  live  upon  it  and  have  made 
it  their  own." 

This  conclusion  is  reached  through  an  analysis  of  the  I 
course  adopted  by  the  German  government.  In  the  first 
place,  this  course  made  it  impossible  for  the  United  States 
to  remain  neutral,  since  spies  and  conspirators,  connected 
directly  with  the  German  embassy  at  Washington  or  the 
Foreign  Office  at  Berlin,  tried  to  corrupt  our  citizens,  to 
destroy  our  industries,  and  to  cripple  our  commerce.  This 
war  of  intrigue  against  the  American  people  was  further 
carried  out  through  the  plot  to  excite  Mexico  to  take  up 
arms  against  us,  with  financial  support  from  Germany, 
possibly  also  with  the  help  of  Japan,  in  return  for  which 
Mexico  was  to  receive  her  "lost  provinces"  of  Texas,  New 
Mexico,  and  Arizona.  And  the  attack  on  the  people  of  the 
United  States  reached  a  climax  in  the  insolent  refusal 
to  permit  our  citizens  to  travel  on  the  high  seas,  except 
on  terms  laid  down  by  Germany.  Such  were  the  measures 
taken  by  Germany  against  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
United  States  at  a  time  when  outwardly  the  two  nations 
were  on  friendly  terms. 

In  the  second  place,  the  menace  of  Germany  consists 
in  the  fact  that  her  rulers  do  not  regard  nations  as  peoples 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  49 

iiiniiinMiiiriiiiiiiiitiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiniiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniinuiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiuiii^ 

— men,  women,  children — but  as  organizations  or  units 
to  be  bought  and  sold  and  handled  according  to  the  designs 
of  the  Prussian  government.  Thus,  the  German  scheme 
to  build  up  a  great  empire  in  Mid-Europe,  extending  from 
Berlin  to  Bagdad,  ignores  differences  in  race,  language, 
national  ideals,  and  is  an  attempt  to  form  an  artificial 
empire  held  together  only  by  fear  of  an  immense  military 
power.  Thus,  once  more,  the  peoples  of  Europe  are  given 
no  choice  of  government,  no  rights  to  "life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness."  To  put  the  whole  plan  in  a 
single  statement:  Germany  was  already,  before  our  en- 
trance into  the  war,  carrying  on  a  war  of  intrigue  designed 
to  destroy  democratic  government  in  America,  and  was 
plotting  also  to  overthrow  forever  any  right  of  European 
nations  to  govern  themselves.  This  is  why  the  President 
said,  in  his  War  Message,  that  "the  world  must  be  made 
safe  for  democracy." 

If  such  a  plan  should  succeed,  it  would  be  necessary  for 
the  remaining  free  nations  of  the  world,  America  included, 
to  establish  great  military  and  naval  forces,  in  expectation 
of  a  new  war  by  which  Germany  would  attempt  to  fasten 
her  system  upon  the  whole  world.  This  would  mean  an 
end  of  political  freedom  everywhere. 

In  view  of  these  things,  the  issue  is  clearly  drawn.  Amer- 
ica has  come  to  a  "day  of  high  resolution  when  every 
principle  we  hold  dearest  is  to  be  vindicated  and  made 
secure  for  the  salvation  of  the  world." 

This  is  the  Call  to  the  Colors! 


50  Builders  of  Democracy 

A  PEOPLES'  WAR 

WOODROW  WILSON 

We  meet  to  celebrate  Flag  Day  because  this  flag  which 
we  honor  and  under  which  we  serve  is  the  emblem  of 
our  unity,  our  power,  our  thought  and  purpose  as  a  nation. 
It  has  no  other  character  than  that  which  we  give  it  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  choices  are  ours.  It  floats 
in  majestic  silence  above  the  hosts  that  execute  those 
choices,  whether  in  peace  or  in  war.  And  yet,  though 
silent,  it  speaks  to  us, — speaks  to  us  of  the  past,  of  the  men 
and  women  who  went  before  us  and  of  the  records  they 
wrote  upon  it.  We  celebrate  the  day  of  its  birth;  and 
from  its  birth  until  now  it  has  witnessed  a  great  history, 
has  floated  on  high  the  symbol  of  great  events,  of  a 
great  plan  of  life  worked  out  by  a  great  people.  We  are 
about  to  carry  it  into  battle,  to  lift  it  where  it  will  draw 
the  fire  of  our  enemies.  We  are  about  to  bid  thousands, 
hundreds  of  thousands,  it  may  be  millions,  of  our  men, 
the  young,  the  strong,  the  capable  men  of  the  nation, 
to  go  forth  and  die  beneath  it  on  fields  of  blood  far 
away, — for  what?  For  some  unaccustomed  thing?  For 
something  for  which  it  has  never  sought  the  fire  before? 
American  armies  were  never  before  sent  across  the  seas. 
Why  are  they  sent  now  ?  For  some  new  purpose,  for  which 
this  great  flag  has  never  been  carried  before,  or  for  some 
old,  familiar,  heroic  purpose  for  which  it  has  seen  men, 
its  own  men,  die  on  every  battlefield  upon  which  Americans 
have  borne  arms  since  the  Revolution? 

These  are  questions  which  must  be  answered.  We  are 
Americans.  We  in  our  turn  serve  America,  and  can 
serve  her  with  no  private  purpose.    We  must  use  her  flag 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  51 

as  she  has  always  used  it.  We  are  accountable  at  the  bar  of 
history  and  must  plead  in  utter  frankness  what  purpose 
it  is  we  seek  to  serve. 

It  is  plain  enough  how  we  were  forced  into  the  war. 
The  extraordinary  insults  and  aggressions  of  the  imperial 
German  government  left  us  no  self-respecting  choice  but 
to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  our  rights  as  a  free  people 
and  of  our  honor  as  a  sovereign  government.  The  military 
masters  of  Germany  denied  us  the  right  to  be  neutral. 
They  filled  our  unsuspecting  communities  with  vicious  spies 
and  conspirators  and  sought  to  corrupt  the  opinion  of  our 
people  in  their  own  behalf.  When  they  found  that  they 
could  not  do  that,  their  agents  diligently  spread  sedition 
amongst  us  and  sought  to  draw  our  own  citizens  from 
their  allegiance, — and  some  of  those  agents  were  men 
connected  with  the  official  Embassy  of  the  German  gov- 
ernment itself  here  in  our  own  capital.  They  sought  by 
violence  to  destroy  our  industries  and  arrest  our  commerce. 
They  tried  to  incite  Mexico  to  take  up  arms  against  us 
and  to  draw  Japan  into  a  hostile  alliance  with  her, — and 
that,  not  by  indirection,  but  by  direct  suggestion  from 
the  Foreign  Office  in  Berlin.  They  impudently  denied 
us  the  use  of  the  high  seas  and  repeatedly  executed  their 
threat  that  they  would  send  to  their  death  any  of  our 
people  who  ventured  to  approach  the  coasts  of  Europe. 
And  many  of  our  people  were  corrupted.  Men  began  to 
look  upon  their  own  neighbors  with  suspicion  and  to  wonder 
in  their  hot  resentment  and  surprise  whether  there  was 
any  community  in  which  hostile  intrigue  did  not  lurk. 
What  great  nation  in  such  circumstances  would  not  have 
taken  up  arms?     Much  as  we  had  desired  peace,  it  was 


52  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiniiiiiniiiiinHiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiMiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiii^^^ 

denied  us  and  not  of  onr  own  choice.  This  flag  under 
which  we  serve  would  have  been  dishonored  had  we  with- 
held our  hand. 

But  that  is  only  part  of  the  story.  We  know  now  as 
clearly  as  we  knew  before  we  were  ourselves  engaged  that  we 
are  not  the  enemies  of  the  German  people  and  that  they  are 
not  our  enemies.  They  did  not  originate  or  desire  this 
hideous  war  or  wish  that  we  should  be  drawn  into  it ;  and 
we  are  vaguely  conscious  that  we  are  fighting  their  cause, 
as  they  will  some  day  see  it,  as  well  as  our  own.  They 
are  themselves  in  the  grip  of  the  same  sinister  power 
that  has  now  at  last  stretched  its  ugly  talons  out  and  drawn 
blood  from  us.  The  whole  world  is  at  war  because  the 
whole  world  is  in  the  grip  of  that  power  and  is  trying 
out  the  great  battle  which  shall  determine  whether  it  is 
to  be  brought  under  its  mastery  or  fling  itself  free. 

The  war  was  begun  by  the  military  masters  of  Germany, 
who  proved  to  be  also  the  masters  of  Austria-Hungary. 
These  men  have  never  regarded  nations  as  peoples,  men, 
women,  and  children  of  like  blood  and  frame  as  them- 
selves, for  whom  governments  existed  and  in  whom  gov- 
ernments had  their  life.  They  have  regarded  them  merely 
as  serviceable  organizations  which  they  could  by  force  or 
intrigue  bend  or  corrupt  to  their  own  purpose.  They  have 
regarded  the  smaller  states,  in  particular,  and  the  peoples 
who  could  be  overwhelmed  by  force,  as  their  natural  tools 
and  instruments  of  domination.  Their  purpose  has  long 
been  avowed.  The  statesmen  of  other  nations,  to  whom 
that  purpose  was  incredible,  paid  little  attention ;  regarded 
what  German  professors  expounded  in  their  classrooms 
and  German  writers  set  forth  to  the  world  as  the  goal  of 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  53 

iiiiiiiiiiiniiMiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiMNiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiriiiMiiiiiiniiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiriiMiiiiiiiriiiiiiniiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 

German  policy  as  rather  the  dream  of  minds  detached 
from  practical  affairs,  as  preposterous  private  conceptions 
of  German  destiny,  tlian  as  the  actual  plans  of  responsible 
rulers ;  but  the  rulers  of  Germany  themselves  knew  all  the 
while  what  concrete  plans,  what  well  advanced  intrigues 
lay  back  of  what  the  professors  and  the  writers  were  say- 
ing, and  were  glad  to  go  forward  unmolested,  filling  the 
thrones  of  Balkan  states  with  German  princes,  putting 
German  officers  at  the  service  of  Turkey  to  drill  her  armies 
and  make  interest  with  her  government,  developing  plans 
of  sedition  and  rebellion  in  India  and  Egypt,  setting  their 
fires  in  Persia.  The  demands  made  by  Austria  upon  Serbia 
were  a  mere  single  step  in  a  plan  which  compassed  Europe 
and  Asia,  from  Berlin  to  Bagdad.  They  hoped  those  de- 
mands might  not  arouse  Europe,  but  they  meant  to  press 
them  whether  they  did  or  not,  for  they  thought  themselves 
ready  for  the  final  issue  of  arms. 

Their  plan  was  to  throw  a  broad  belt  of  German  military 
power  and  political  control  across  the  very  center  of  Europe 
and  beyond  the  Mediterranean  into  the  heart  of  Asia;  and 
Austria-Hungary  was  to  be  as  much  their  tool  and  pawn 
as  Serbia  or  Bulgaria  or  Turkey  or  the  ponderous  states 
of  the  East.  Austria-Hungary,  indeed,  was  to  become  part 
of  the  central  German  Empire,  absorbed  and  dominated 
by  the  same  forces  and  influences  that  had  originally 
cemented  the  German  states  themselves.  The  dream  had 
its  heart  at  Berlin.  It  could  have  had  a  heart  nowhere 
else!  It  rejected  the  idea  of  solidarity  of  race  entirely. 
The  choice  of  peoples  played  no  part  in  it  at  all.  It  con- 
templated binding  together  racial  and  political  units  which 
could  be  kept  together  only  by  force, — Czechs,  Magyars, 


54  Builders  of  Democracy 

Croats,  Serbs,  Eoumanians,  Turks,  Armenians, — the  proud 
states  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  the  stout  little  common- 
wealths of  the  Balkans,  the  indomitable  Turks,  the  subtile 
peoples  of  the  East.  These  peoples  did  not  wish  to  be 
united.  They  ardently  desired  to  direct  their  own  affairs, 
would  be  satisfied  only  by  undisputed  independence.  They 
could  be  kept  quiet  only  by  the  presence  or  the  constant 
threat  of  armed  men.  They  would  live  under  a  common 
power  only  by  sheer  compulsion  and  await  the  day  of 
revolution.  But  the  German  military  statesmen  had  reck- 
oned with  all  that  and  were  ready  to  deal  with  it  in  their 
own  way. 

And  they  have  actually  carried  the  greater  part  of  that 
amazing  plan  into  execution!  Look  how  things  stand. 
Austria  is  at  their  mercy.  It  has  acted,  not  upon  its  own 
initiative  or  upon  the  choice  of  its  own  people,  but  at 
Berlin's  dictation  ever  since  the  war  began.  Its  people 
now  desire  peace,  but  cannot  have  it  until  leave  is  granted 
from  Berlin.  The  so-called  Central  Powers  are  in  fact 
but  a  single  Power.  Serbia  is  at  its  mercy,  should  its 
hands  be  but  for  a  moment  freed.  Bulgaria  has  consented 
to  its  will,  and  Eoumania  is  overrun.  The  Turkish  armies, 
which  Germans  trained,  are  serving  Germany,  certainly 
not  themselves,  and  the  guns  of  German  warships  lying 
in  the  harbor  at  Constantinople  remind  Turkish  statesmen 
every  day  that  they  have  no  choice  but  to  take  their  orders 
from  Berlin.  From  Hamburg  to  the  Persian  Gulf  the  net 
is  spread. 

Is  it  not  easy  to  understand  'the  eagerness  for  peace 
that  has  been  manifested  from  Berlin  ever  since  the  snare 
was  set  and  sprung?    Peace,  peace,  peace  has  been  the  talk 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  55 

aillllllllirillllMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMirilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIItllltllllllllllllllHIIIIII^ 

of  her  Foreign  Office  for  now  a  year  and  more;  not  peace 
upon  her  own  initiative,  but  upon  the  initiative  of  the 
nations  over  which  she  now  deems  herself  to  hold  the 
advantage.  A  little  of  the  talk  has  been  public,  but  most 
of  it  has  been  private.  Through  all  sorts  of  channels  it 
has  come  to  me,  and  in  all  sorts  of  guises,  but  never  with 
the  terms  disclosed  which  the  German  government  would 
be  willing  to  accept.  That  government  has  other  valuable 
pawns  in  its  hands  besides  those  I  have  mentioned.  It 
etill  holds  a  valuable  part  of  France,  though  with  slowly 
relaxing  grasp,  and  practically  the  whole  of  Belgium.  Its 
armies  press  close  upon  Eussia  and  overrun  Poland  at 
their  will.  It  cannot  go  further;  it  dare  not  go  back.  It 
wishes  to  close  its  bargain  before  it  is  too  late  and  it  has 
little  left  to  offer  for  the  pound  of  flesh  it  will  demand. 

The  military  masters  under  whom  Germany  is  bleeding 
see  very  clearly  to  what  point  Fate  has  brought  them.  If 
they  fall  back  or  are  forced  back  an  inch,  their  power  both 
abroad  and  at  home  will  fall  to  pieces  like  a  house  of  cards. 
It  is  their  power  at  home  they  are  thinking  about  now 
more  than  their  power  abroad.  It  is  that  power  which  is 
trembling  under  their  very  feet ;  and  deep  fear  has  entered 
their  hearts.  They  have  but  one  chance  to  perpetuate 
their  military  power  or  even  their  controlling  political 
influence.  If  they  can  secure  peace  now  with  the  immense 
advantages  still  in  their  hands  which  they  have  up  to 
this  point  apparently  gained,  they  will  have  justified  them- 
selves before  the  German  people :  they  will  have  gained  by 
force  what  they  promised  to  gain  by  it :  an  immense  expan- 
sion of  German  power,  an  immense  enlargement  of  German 
industrial  and  commercial  opportunities.     Their  prestige 


56  Builders  of  Democracy 


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will  be  secure,  and  with  their  prestige  their  political  power. 
If  they  fail,  their  people  will  thrust  them  aside ;  a  govern- 
ment accountable  to  the  people  themselves  will  be  set  up 
in  Germany  as  it  has  been  in  England,  in  the  United 
States,  in  France,  and  in  all  the  great  countries  of  the 
modern  time  except  Germany.  If  they  succeed  they  are 
safe  and  Germany  and  the  world  are  undone;  if  they  fail 
Germany  is  saved  and  the  world  will  be  at  peace.  If  they 
succeed,  America  will  fall  within  the  menace.  We  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  world  must  remain  armed,  as  they  will 
remain,  and  must  make  ready  for  the  next  step  in  their 
aggression;  if  they  fail,  the  world  may  unite  for  peace 
and  Germany  may  be  of  the  union. 

Do  you  not  now  understand  the  new  intrigue,  the  intrigue 
for  peace,  and  why  the  masters  of  Germany  do  not  hesitate 
to  use  any  agency  that  promises  to  effect  their  purpose, 
the  deceit  of  the  nations  ?  Their  present  particular  aim  is 
to  deceive  all  those  who  throughout  the  world  stand  for  the 
rights  of  peoples  and  the  self-government  of  nations;  for 
they  see  what  immense  strength  the  forces  of  justice  and  of 
liberalism  are  gathering  out  of  this  war.  They  are  employ- 
ing liberals  in  their  enterprise.  They  are  using  men,  in 
Germany  and  without,  as  their  spokesmen  whom  they  have 
hitherto  despised  and  oppressed,  using  them  for  their  own 
destruction, — socialists,  the  leaders  of  labor,  the  thinkers 
they  have  hitherto  sought  to  silence.  Let  them  once  succeed 
and  these  men,  now  their  tools,  will  be  ground  to  powder 
beneath  the  weight  of  the  great  military  empire  they  will 
have  set  up;  the  revolutionists  in  Russia  will  be  cut  off 
from  all  succor  or  co-operation  in  western  Europe  and  a 
coTinter  revolution  fostered  and  supported;  Germany  her- 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  57 

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self  will  lose  her  chance  of  freedom;  and  all  Europe  will 
arm  for  the  next,  the  final  struggle. 

The  sinister  intrigue  is  being  no  less  actively  conducted 
in  this  country  than  in  Eussia  and  in  every  country  in 
Europe  to  which  the  agents  and  dupes  of  the  imperial 
German  government  can  get  access.  That  government 
has  many  spokesmen  here,  in  places  high  and  low.  They 
have  learned  discretion.  They  keep  within  the  law.  It  is 
opinion  they  utter  now,  not  sedition.  They  proclaim 
the  liberal  purposes  of  their  masters ;  declare  this  a  foreign 
warVhich  can  touch  America  with  no  danger  to  either 
her  lands  or  her  institutions;  set  England  at  the  center  of 
the  stage  and  talk  of  her  ambition  to  assert  economic  domin- 
ion throughout  the  world ;  appeal  to  our  ancient  traditions 
of  isolation  in  the  politics  of  the  nations;  and  seek  to 
undermine  the  government  with  false  professions  of  loyalty 
to  its  principles. 

But  they  will  make  no  headway.  The  false  betray  them- 
selves always  in  every  accent.  It  is  only  friends  and  partisans 
of  the  German  government  whom  we  have  already  identified 
who  utter  these  thinly  disguised  disloyalties.  The  facts  are 
patent  to  all  the  world,  and  nowhere  are  they  more  plainly 
seen  than  in  the  United  States,  where  ,we  are  accustomed 
to  deal  with  facts  and  not  with  sophistries;  and  the  great 
fact  that  stands  out  above  all  the  rest  is  that  this  is  a 
Peoples'  War,  a  war  for  freedom  and  justice  and  self-gov- 
ernment amongst  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  a  war  to 
make  the  world  safe  for  the  peoples  who  live  upon  it  and 
have  made  it  their  own,  the  German  people  themselves 
included ;  and  that  with  us  rests  the  choice  to  break  through 
all  these  hypocrisies  and  patent  cheats  and  masks  of  brute 


58  Builders  of  Democracy 

irruiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiMiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiuMiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiuiiiuiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiinii 

force  and  help  set  the  world  free,  or  else  stand  aside  and 
let  it  be  dominated  a  long  age  through  by  sheer  weight 
of  arms  and  the  arbitrary  choices  of  self-constituted  mas- 
ters, by  the  nation  which  can  maintain  the  biggest  armies 
and  the  most  irresistible  armaments, — a  power  to  which  the 
world  has  afforded  no  parallel  and  in  the  face  of  which 
political  freedom  must  wither  and  perish. 

For  us  there  is  but  one  choice.  We  have  made  it.  Woe 
be  to  the  man  or  group  of  men  that  seeks  to  stand  in  our 
way  in  this  day  of  high  resolution  when  every  principle  we 
hold  dearest  is  to  be  vindicated  and  made  secure  for  the 
salvation  of  the  nations.  We  are  ready  to  plead  at  the 
bar  of  history,  and  our  flag  shall  wear  a  new  luster.  Once 
more  we  shall  make  good  with  our  lives  and  fortunes  the 
great  faith  to  which  we  were  bom,  and  a  new  glory  shall 
shine  in  the  face  of  our  people. 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Call  to  mind  as  many  illustrations  from  your  previous 
reading  as  you  can,  to  make  clear  the  opening  sentences  of  the 
address. 

2.  In  what  way  does  the  first  paragraph,  with  the  theme  that 
runs  through  the  address  ("This  is  a  Peoples*  War")  answer  the 
objection  of  some  people  that  America  should  keep  out  of 
European  affairs? 

3.  Some  illustrations  of  the  plots  referred  to  in  the  third 
paragraph  are  the  attempts  to  destroy  the  Welland  Canal,  to 
influence  Congress  through  the  use  of  a  large  sum  of  money,  to 
destroy  merchant  vessels  by  means  of  bombs  secreted  in  the  coal, 
to  foment  trouble  in  Mexico.  Advertisements  were  printed  in  our 
papers  warning  Americans  not  to  sail  in  English  and  French 
ships.  The  famous  Zimmermann  note  of  January  19,  1917,  pro- 
posed an  alliance  between  Germany  and  Mexico  to  make  war  on 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  59 

iiiiiiitiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiini iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMHii 

the  United  States.  The  climax  of  eflfrontery  was  reached  in  the 
German  official  permission  to  American  passenger  ships  to  con- 
tinue their  sailings,  provided  they  went  to  Falmouth  only,  carried 
certain  marks,  sailed  a  certain  defined  course,  and  made  only  one 
trip  a  week  each  way. 

4.  In  the  fourth  paragraph,  proof  of  the  statement  that  the 
German  people  did  not  "originate  or  desire  this  hideous  war"  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  German  parliament,  which  is  not  truly 
representative  of  the  people  and  has  little  power,  was  not  officially 
notified  of  the  mobilization  of  the  army  until  several  days  after 
action  had  been  taken  by  the  authorities.  Besides,  in  Prussia,  the 
most  powerful  state  in  the  empire,  one  rich  man's  vote  may  be 
equal  to  those  of  ten  thousand  laborers.  There  is  no  chance  for 
the  people  to  express  their  desires  as  in  the  United  States.  The 
German  people  are  not  "makers  of  the  flag." 

6.  In  the  fifth  paragraph  the  President  refers  to  matters  that 
are  now  well  known.  The  War  Cyclopedia,  published  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Information,  will  supply  any  details  that  you 
wish  to  secure.  The  summary  of  the  matter  is  that  in  Roumania, 
Albania,  Bulgaria,  and  Greece,  relatives  of  the  Hohenzollerns  were 
placed  on  the  thrones;  that  Turkey  was  helped  by  German  money 
and  officers  to  organize  a  modem  army;  that  a  railway  from 
Berlin  to  Bagdad  was  planned  and  almost  completed  under  Ger- 
man control.  Serbia  was  the  only  country  in  the  path  of  the 
railway  that  was  not  connected  in  some  way  with  the  German 
royal  family. 

6.  The  plan  referred  to  in  the  sixth  paragraph  is  the  so- 
called  Mid-Europe,  the  nucleus  of  the  proposed  German  world 
empire.  Some  of  the  nations  to  be  swallowed  by  this  monstrous 
plan  are  named  by  the  President.  You  should  identify  them  on 
the  map.  By  means  of  this  plot  Russia  would  be  made  helpless 
even  if  not  brought  directly  under  German  control.  Events  in 
Russia  since  the  President  spoke  have  shown  how  far  the  plan 
has  progressed  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

7.  Find,  by  way  of  summary,  the  answer  given  by  the  Presi- 
dent to  the  questions  asked  in  the  first  paragraph.  Write  a  para- 
graph of  your  own  answering  the  questions. 


60  Builders  of  Democracy 

VIII.     THE  EESPONSE 
The  Summons  of  the  Drums 

The  following  poem  by  Walt  Whitman  will  tell  you  of 
the  effect  when  a  great  nation  is  called  from  the  pursuits 
of  peace  to  those  of  war.  It  will  help  you  to  see  in  imagina- 
tion what  went  on  in  America  after  the  Declaration  of 
War,  April  6,  1917.  President  Wilson  said,  in  his  War 
Message  of  April  2,  "It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lead  this 
great  people  into  war,  into  the  most  terrible  and  disastrous 
of  all  wars,  civilization  itself  seeming  to  be  in  the  balance." 

BEAT!  BEAT!  DRUMS! 

WALT  WHITMAN 

Beat!  beat!  drums! — ^blow!  bugles!  blow! 

Through  the  windows — through  doors — burst  like  a  ruth- 
less force. 

Into  the  solemn  church,  and  scatter  the  congregation. 

Into  the  school  where  the  scholar  is  studying ; 

Leave  not  the  bridegroom  quiet — no  happiness  must  he 
have  now  with  his  bride, 

Nor  the  peaceful  farmer  any  peace,  plowing  his  field  or 
gathering  his  grain, 

So  fierce  you  whirr  and  pound  you  drums — so  shrill  you 
bugles  blow. 

Beat!  beat!  drums! — blow!  bugles!  blow! 

Over  the  traffic  of  cities — over  the  rumble  of  wheels  in  the 

streets ; 
Are  beds  prepared  for  sleepers  at  night  in  the  houses?  no 

sleepers  must  sleep  in  those  beds, 
No  bargainers'  bargains  by  day — ^no  brokers  or  speculators 

— would  they  continue  ? 


The  Call  to  the  Colors  61 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiMininiiiiuiiiiiiinin 

Would  the  talkers  be  talking?  would  the  singer  attempt 

to  sing? 
Would  the  lawyer  rise  in  the  court  to  state  his  case  before 

the  judge? 
Then   rattle  quicker,   heavier  drums — you   bugles  wilder 

blow. 

Beat !  beat !  drums  ! — blow  !  bugles !  blow ! 
Make  no  parley — stop  for  no  expostulation, 
Mind  not  the  timid — mind  not  the  weeper  or  prayer. 
Mind  not  the  old  man  beseeching  the  young  man. 
Let  not  the  child's  voice  be  heard,  nor  the  mother's  en- 
treaties. 
Make  even  the  trestles  to  shake  the  dead  where  they  lie 

awaiting  the  hearses, 
So  strong  you  thump,  0  terrible  drums — so  loud  you  bugles 
blow. 


The  Youth  Replies 

These  lines  from  "Voluntaries,"  by  Ealph  Waldo  Emer- 
son, were  written  many  years  ago,  about  another  crisis, 
but  they  seem  to  have  been  written  for  American  youth 
of  today: 

In  an  age  of  fops  and  toys. 

Wanting  wisdom,  void  of  right. 

Who  shall  nerve  heroic  boys 

To  hazard  all  in  Freedom's  fight, — 

Break  sharply  off  their  jolly  games. 

Forsake  their  comrades  gay, 

And  quit  proud  homes  and  youthful  dames 

For  famine,  toil,  and  fray  ? 

Yet  on  the  nimble^  air  benign 

Speed  nimbler  messages. 

That  waft  the  breath  of  grace  divine 


62  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiHimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiima 

To  hearts  in  sloth  and  ease. 

So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust. 

So  near  is  God  to  man, 

When  Duty  whispers  low.  Thou  must. 

The  youth  replies,  /  can. 


The  Spirit  of  America 

These  lines  are  also  from  Emerson's  "Voluntaries.'^  They 
are  at  once  a  benediction  and  a  splendid  interpretation  of 
the  heroism  of  the  soldiers  of  democracy. 

Best  befriended  of  the  God 

He  who,  in  evil  times, 

"Warned  by  an  inward  voice, 

Heeds  not  the  darkness  and  the  dread. 

Biding  by  his  rule  and  choice, 

Feeling  only  the  fiery  thread 

Leading  over  heroic  ground. 

Walled  with  mortal  terror  round. 

To  the  aim  which  him  allures, 

And  the  sweet  heaven  his  deed  secures. 

Stainless  soldier  on  the  walls. 
Knowing  this, — and  knows  no  more, — 
Whoever  fights,  whoever  falls. 
Justice  conquers  evermore, 
Justice  after  as  before, — 
And  he  who  battles  on  her  side, 
God,  though  he  were  ten  times  slain. 
Crowns  him  victor  glorified, 
Victor  over  death  and  pain. 


PART  TWO 

THE  BUILDERS  AND  THEIR  WORK 

The  government  which  now  calls  to  the  colors  all  its 
citizens  is  founded  on  ideas  that  have  grown  through  many 
centuries.  Americans  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July  as  their 
national  birthday,  and  the  year  1776  marks  the  beginning 
of  our  separate  existence  as  a  nation.  But  we  study  the 
history  of  our  colonies  back  to  1607,  when  Jamestown  was 
founded,  and  1620,  when  Plymouth  was  founded,  because 
their  history  is  also  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States.  And  we  realize  that  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence did  not,  when  it  was  adopted,  establish  the  nation 
as  we  know  it  today ;  nor  did  the  Revolutionary  War,  when 
it  had  been  fought  to  the  surrender  at  Yorktown;  nor 
even  the  Constitution,  when  it  had  been  ratified  by  the 
states.  Our  government  has  grown  not  only  in  the  wealth 
and  the  power  of  its  people,  but  in  its  expression  of  the 
will  of  the  people  who  constitute  it  and  are  making  it  anew 
from  year  to  year. 

To  get  at  the  real  beginnings  of  America,  however,  we 
must  go  much  farther  back  than  Plymouth  and  Jamestown. 
A  thousand  years  before  the  voyage  of  Columbus,  our  ances- 
tors were  trying  out  a  rude  parliamentary  system.  The 
king  and  his  chiefs,  called  mtan  or  wise-men,  discussed 
matters  of  government,  while  the  people  expressed  approval 
or  dissent.  At  the  sliire-moot,  all  freemen  came  together 
to  vote  on  matters  that  concerned  the  county  or  shire. 
Even  the  village  had  its  tun-moot  (town-meeting),  attended 

63 


64  Builders  of  Democracy 

imiiiiiiuniiiiiMiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

by  all  freemen,  who  settled  in  it  all  matters  of  local  dis- 
pute. In  these  meetings  lay  the  beginnings  of  the  English 
Parliament  and  of  the  American  system  of  representative 
government.  These  men,  back  in  the  dim  past,  shadowy 
creatures  whose  names  we  know  not,  stem  men  and  war- 
riors who  were  trying,  after  a  crude  fashion,  to  work  out 
ways  by  which  men  might  co-operate  with  each  other,  were 
Builders  of  Democracy.  We  may  learn  all  the  facts  about 
the  slow  growth  of  these  rude  assemblies  of  our  ancestors 
into  our  present  system  of  free  government  without  really 
understanding  what  they  mean.-  Constitutions  and  Declara- 
tions are  dry  and  lifeless  things  until  we  see  that  they 
express  ideas  that  men  have  counted  part  of  their  lives, 
ideas  dearer  than  their  lives.  Some  one  has  said  that  a  book 
is  not  a  mere  block  of  paper  on  which  words  have  been 
printed,  but  that  it  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  very  life-blood  of 
the  man  who  wrote  it.  It  is  so  with  our  great  charters  of 
free  government. 

These  charters,  the  names  <  of  which  you  will  learn  as 
you  read  their  story,  are  the  builders'  plans  for  the  great 
structure  of  Democracy.  They  are  not  the  building.  They 
are  rules  by  which  free  men  live  together.  Yet  we  get  a 
wrong  idea  if  we  think  of  them  as  just  written  out  by  men, 
as  we  would  write  out  a  set  of  rules  for  a  debating  society. 
The  rights  that  they  set  forth  have  been  won  at  the  cost 
of  blood.  Sometimes  it  has  been  through  a  long  contest 
with  cruel  and  selfish  kings.  Often  it  has  been  on  hard 
fought  battlefields.  And  one  time  the  scene  is  laid  in  the 
dimly  lighted  cabin  of  a  little  ship  filled  with  people  who 
have  for  weeks  battled  with  the  terrors  of  an  unknown  sea, 
only  to  face  new  dangers  of  hunger  and  bitter  cold  while 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  65 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiii 

they  build  their  homes  in  the  wilderness.  But  always  these 
Builders  have  wrought  their  lives  into  that  which  they  have 
built. 

A  soldier  of  France,  in  the  present  war,  wrote  to  his 
mother  that  he  would  like  to  be  "that  workman  who,  though 
he  knows  that  the  scaffolding  on  which  he  stands  will 
crumble  without  his  being  saved,  nevertheless  goes  right 
on  sculpturing  the  ornaments  of  the  cathedral.'^  It  is  in 
this  spirit,  through  many  human  generations,  that  the 
Builders  have  wrought  with  their  lives  and  then  have  made 
way  for  others  to  carry  on  the  work. 

The  stories  that  follow  will  help  you  to  fill  out,  in  your 
imagination,  this  long  record.  These  twelve  chapters 
gather  into  a  series  of  little  pictures  the  great  periods  in  the 
story  of  the  Building.  All  sorts  of  men  appear  in  these 
pictures:  barons  and  lords  in  early  England,  peasants  and 
laborers  in  the  garb  of  simple  men,  bearded  sailors  on  the 
Spanish  Main,  grave  P\iritans  clad  in  black,  ragged  soldiers 
in  our  Continental  Army — all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 
But  they  speak  the  English  tongue,  though  sometimes  their 
words  are  hard  for  us  to  understand,  and  they  have  all 
helped  in  the  Building. 

The  first  story  is  in  some  ways  a  summary  of  them*  all. 
It  tells  of  a  hero  who  did  what  he  could  to  make  the  world 
safe  for  his  fellows.  So  he  delivered  the  dwelling  of  men 
from  the  sudden  terror  that  came  in  the  night,  and 
cleansed  the  seas  so  that  they  should  be  pure  and  free  for 
the  uses  of  men,  and  drove  to  his  lair  and  slew  the  fiery 
monster  that  shot  destruction  from  the  clouds. 


66  Builders  of  Democracy 


I. 


HOW  IN  THE  BEGINNING  MEN  MADE  HOMES  BY  THE  NORTH- 
ERN SEAS.  HOW  CRUEL  MONSTERS  CAME  AGAINST  THEM, 
DRINKING  THEIR  BLOOD,  MAKING  UNCLEAN  THEIR  SEAS, 
AND  SENDING  FIRE  UPON  THEM  FROM  ABOVE.  AND  HOW 
A  CHAMPION  ROSE  UP  TO  DEFEND  THEM. 

The  oldest  English  heroic  poem  tells  how  a  brave  war- 
rior went  to  the  rescue  of  a  prince  whose  realm  was  ravaged 
by  a  terrible  beast.  The  events  of  the  story  took  place  in 
Denmark  and  southern  Sweden  and  the  story  is  made  up  of 
incidents  belonging  to  the  sixth  century  or  earlier,  which 
became  the  subjects  of  ballads  or  songs.  Later,  in  England, 
this  material  was  woven  into  a  splendid  poem  that  .expresses 
some  of  the  deepest  ideals  of  the  English  speaking  peoples. 

Beowulf,  the  hero  of  the  poem,  heard  about  a  trouble 
that  had  come  upon  King  Hrothgar  through  a  dreadful 
beast,  Grendel  by  name.  As  a  result  of  the  terror,  the 
splendid  hall  that  Hrothgar  had  built  as  a  home  for  him- 
self and  his  chieftains  was  left  deserted.  No  way  of 
conquering  the  monster  could  be  devised;  the  people  were 
powerless  before  its  awful  cruelty. 

"That,  in  his  distant  home,  learnt  a  warrior;  he  learnt 
the  deeds  of  Grendel;  he  was  of  mankind  strongest  in 
might  in  the  day  of  this  life;  he  was  of  noble  birth  and  of 
robust  growth.  He  ordered  a  wave-traveler  (a  ship)  to 
be  prepared  for  him,  said  he  would  pass  over  the  swan- 
croad  (the  sea)  and  visit  the  gallant  king,  the  illustrious 
ruler,  inasmuch  as  he  was  in  need  of  men.'' 

With  some  carefully  selected  companions,  Beowulf 
landed  in  Hrothgar's  kingdom  and  offered  his  services. 
The  king^  was  overjoyed  because  a  champion  had  come  to 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  67 

nil iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiimiiiiiiiiii iimiiiii iiiimiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiii 

relieve  him  from  his  distress.  After  an  evening  spent  in 
the  great  hall,  the  king  and  his  companions  departed,  leav- 
ing Beowulf  to  await  the  coming  of  the  monster. 


BEOWULF  AWAl*rS    THE   COMING   OF   GRENDEL 

Then  Hrothgar  departed,  the  good  prince, 
out  of  the  hall  with  his  band  of  warriors ; 
But  the  chief  of  the  Geats  well  trusted  in 
his  own  proud  might  and  the  Creator's  favor. 
He  doffed  from  him  then  his  iron  coat  of  mail, 
the  helm  from  his  head,  and  gave  to  a  henchman 
his  sword  enchased,  choicest  of  irons, 
bade  him  take  charge  of  the  gear  of  war. 

Some  words  of  pride  then  spake  the  good  chief, 
Beowulf  the  Geat,  ere  he  mounted  his  bed : 
"I  count  me  no  feebler  in  martial  vigor 
of  warlike  works  than  Grendel  himself. 
Therefore  I  will  not,  tho'  easy  it  were, 
with  sword  destroy  him  or  lull  him  to  rest. 
'Tis  a  warfare  he  knows  not — to  strike  against  me 
and  hew  my  shield,  renowned  tho'  he  be 
for  hostile  works;  but  we  two  tonight 
shall  do  without  sword,  if  he  dare  seek 
war  without  weapon.     And  afterward  God, 
the  wise,  the  holy,  shall  judge  glory 
to  whichever  hand  it  meet  to  him  seemeth." 

Then  lay  down  the  brave  man, — the  bolster  received 
the  warrior's  cheek ;  and  around  him  many 
a  seaman  keen  reclined  on  his  hall-couch. 
Not  one  of  them  thought  that  he  should  thence 
seek  ever  again  the  home  he  loved, 
the  folk  or  free  burg  where  he  was  nurtured : 
since  first  they  had  heard  how  far  too  many 
folk  of  the  Danes  a  bloody  death 
o'ertook  in  the  wine-hall.    But  to  them  the  Lord 


68  Builders  of  Democracy 


gave  victory,  so  that  they  all 
by  the  might  of  one,  by  his  single  powers, 
their  foe  overcame.    Shown  is  it  truly 
that  mighty  God  ruleth  the  race  of  men. 


GRENDEL  ENTERS   THE   GREAT   HALL 

Now  in  the  murky  night  came  stalking 
the  shadow-walker.    All  the  warriors 
who  should  defend  that  pinnacled  mansion 
slept,  save  one. 

Then  came  Grendel :  he  bare  God's  anger. 
The  wicked  spoiler  thought  to  ensnare 
many  a  man  in  the  lofty  hall. 
He  strode  'neath  the  clouds  until  the  winehouse, 
the  gold-hall  of  men,  he  readily  saw, 
richly  adorned.    Nor  was  that  time 
the  first  that  Hrothgar's  home  he  had  sought: 
but  ne'er  in  his  life,  before  nor  since, 
found  he  a  bolder  man  or  war^-iors. 

So  then  to  the  mansion  the  man  bereft 
of  joys  came  journeying;  soon  with  his  hands 
undid  the  door,  tho'  with  forged  bands  fast; 
the  baleful-minded,  angry,  burst  open 
the  mansion's  mouth.    Soon  thereafter 
the  fiend  was  treading  the  glittering  floor, 
paced  wroth  of  mood ;  from  his  eyes  started 
a  horrid  light,  most  like  to  flame. 
He  in  the  mansion  saw  warriors  many, 
a  kindred  band,  together  sleeping, 
fellow- warriors.    His  spirit  exulted. 
The  fell  wretch  expected  that  ere  day  eame 
he  would  take  the.  life  from  the  body 
of  each,  for  in  him  the  hope  had  risen 
of  a  gluttonous  feast.    Yet  'twas  not  his  fate 
that  he  might  more  of  the  race  of  men 
eat  after  that  night.    The  mighty  chief 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  69 

NiiiiiiiiiMiiiniiiinniniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiMiiiiiiUMiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiililililiiilliillimim^^ 

of  the  Geats  watched  how  the  wicked  spoiler 
would  proceed  with  his  sudden  grasping. 

Nor  did  the  monster  mean  to  delay ; 
for  he  at  the  first  stroke  quickly  seized 
a  sleeping  warrior,  tore  him  unawares, 
bit  his  bone-casings,  drank  his  veins'  blood, 
in  great  morsels  swallowed  him.    Soon  had  he 
devoured  all  of  the  lifeless  one, 
feet  and  hands.    He  stepped  up  nearer, 
took  then  with  his  hand  the  doughty-minded 
warrior  at  rest ;  with  his  hand  the  foe 
reached  towards  him.    He  instantly  grappled 
with  the  evil-minded,  and  on  his  arm  rested. 

Soon  as  the  criminal  realized 
that  in  no  other  man  of  middle-earth, 
of  the  world's  regions,  had  he  found 
a  stronger  hand-grip,  his  mind  grew  fearful. 
Yet  not  for  that  could  he  sooner  escape. 
He  was  bent  on  flight,  would  flee  to  his  cavern, 
the  devil-pack  seek ;  such  chance  had  never 
in  all  his  life-day^  befallen  before. 
Then  the  great  Beowulf  remembered 
his  evening  speech ;  upright  he  stood, 
and  firmly  grasped  him ;  his  fingers  yielded ; 
the  giant  was  fleeing. 

The  famed  one  considered  whether  he  might 
more  widely  wheel  and  thence  away 
flee  to  his  fen-mound ; 

'twas  a  dire  journey  the  baleful  spoiler  made. 
The  princely  hall  thundered ;  terror  was 
on  all  the  Danes,  the  city-dwellers, 
each  valiant  one,  while  both  the  fierce 
strong  warriors  raged ;  the  mansion  resounded. 
There  many  a  warrior 
of  Beownlf's  drew  his  ancient  sword ; 
they  would  defend  the  life  of  their  lord, 
of  the  great  prince,  if  so  they  might. 


70  Builders  of  Democracy 

Then  he  who  before  in  mirth  of  mood 
(he  was  God's  foe)  had  perpetrated 
many  crimes  'gainst  the  race  of  men, 
found  that  his  body  would  not  avail  him, 
for  him  the  proud  prince,  Beowulf, 
had  in  hand.    The  fell  wretch  suffered 
bodily  pain;  a  deadly  wound 
appeared  oi>  his  shoulder,  his  sinews  started, 
his  bone-casings  burst.     To  Beowulf  was 
the  war-glory  given ;  Grendel  must  thence, 
death-sick,  under  his  fen-shelters  flee, 
seek  a  joyless  dwelling;  well  he  knew 
that  the  end  of  his  life  was  come,  his  appointed 
number  of  days.    For  all  the  Danes, 
that  fierce  fight  done,  was  their  wish  accomplished. 

So  he  then,  the  far-come,  the  wise  and  strong 
of  soul,  had  purified  Hrothgar's  hall, 
saved  it  from  malice;  his  night's  work  rejoiced  him, 
his  valor-glories.    The  Geatish  chieftain 
had  to  the  Danes  his  boast  fulfilled, 
had  healed,  to-wit,  the  preying  sorrow 
that  they  in  that  country  before  had  suffered 
and  had  to  endure  for  hard  necessity, 
no  small  affliction.    A  manifest  token 
it  was  when  the  warrior  laid  down  the  hand — 
arm  and  shoulder,  Grendel's  whole  grappler 
together  there — 'neath  the  vaulted  roof. 

Then  in  the  morning,  as  I  have  heard  tell, 
there  was  many  a  warrior  around  the  gift  hall: 
folk-chiefs  came,  from  far  and  near, 
o'er  distant  ways,  the  wonder  to  see, 
the  tracks  of  the  foe.     His  taking  from  life 
seemed  not  grievous  to  any  warrior 
who  the  inglorious  one's  trail  beheld, — 
how,  weary  in  spirit,  o'ercome  in  the  conflict, 
death-doomed  and  fleeing,  he  bare  death-traces 
thence  away  to  the  watersprites'  sea. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  71 

jiiiiniMiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiHiiiiiiMinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniMiiiHiiiiiniiniiMiiiMiiiiiiMiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiriMiiii 

There  was  the  surge  boiling  with  blood, 

the  dire  swing  of  waves  all  commingled; 

with  clotted  blood  hot,  with  sword-gore  it  welled ; 

the  death-doomed  dyed  it,  when  he  joyless 

laid  down  his  life  in  his  fen-as34um, 

his  heathen  soul. 

Beowulf's  victory  is  celebrated 

Then  was  Beowulf's 
glory  celebrated.    Many  oft  said 
that  south  or  north,  between  the  seas 
the  wide  world  over,  there  was  no  other 
'neath  heaven's  course  who  was  a  better 
shield-bearer,  or  one  more  worthy  of  power. 
Yet  found  they  no  fault  with  their  lord  beloved, 
the  joyful  Hrothgar;  he  was  their  good  king. 

Hrothgar  spake  (he  to  the  hall  went, 
stood  near  the  threshold,  saw  the  steep  roof 
shining  with  gold,  and  Grendel's  hand)  : 
"Now  for  this  sight,  to  the  Almighty  thanks ! 
May  it  quickly  be  given !    Much  ill  have  I  borne, 
Grendel's  snares;  ever  can  God  work 
wonder  on  wonder,  the  King  of  Glory. 
Now  this  warrior, 

through  the  might  of  the  Lord,  has  done  a  deed 
which  we  all  together  before  could  not 
with  cunning  accomplish. 
Now  will  I,  0  Beowulf, 
best  of  warriors,  even  as  a  son, 
love  thee  in  my  heart.    Keep  henceforth  well 
our  kinship  new;  no  lack  shalt  thou  have 
of  worldly  desires,  wherein  I  have  power. 
Full  often  for  less  have  I  dealt  a  reward,  * 
an  honor-gift,  to  a  feebler  warrior, 
weaker  in  conflict.    Thou  for  thyself 


72  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiuiiiiiuMiiHiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiniiiniiiniin 

hast  wrouglit  so  well,  that  thy  glory  shall  live 
through  every  age.    May  the  All-wielder 
with  good  reward  thee,  as  now  He  has  done/' 

Beowulf  spake,  the  great  chieftain, 
'^We  with  great  good  will,  that  arduous  work, 
that  fight,  have  achieved ;  we  boldly  ventured 
in  war  with  the  monster.    The  more  do  I  wish 
that  thou  himself  mightest  have  seen, 
the  foe  in  his  trappings,  full  weary  enough. 
Him  I  quickly,  with  hard  and  fast  fetters 
on  his  death-bed  thought  to  have  bound, 
that  through  my  hand-grips  low  he  should  lie, 
struggling  for  life,  but  his  body  escaped. 
I  was  not  able,  the  Lord  did  not  will  it, 
to  keep  him  from  going ;  I  held  him  not  firm  enough, 
the  deadly  foe ;  too  strong  on  his  feet 
the  enemy  was.    Yet  his  hand  he  left, 
for  his  life's  safety,  to  guard  his  track, 
his  arm  and  shoulder ;  yet  not  thereby 
did  the  wretched  creature  comfort  obtain ; 
nor  will  he,  crime-doer,  the  longer  live 
with  sins  oppressed.    For  pain  has  him 
in  its  grip  compelling  straitly  clasped,  ^  ^ 

in  its  deadly  bonds ;  there  shall  he  await, 
the  crime-stained  wretch,  the  Final  Doom, 
as  the  Lord  of  Splendor  shall  mete  it  to  him." 

So  Beowulf  went  to  rescue  Hrothgar^  as  in  recent  years 
England  went  to  rescue  Belgium,  from  the  invasion  of  a 
beast  that  knew  no  law  but  cruelty  and  blood. 

But  the  warfare  was  not  over.  The  mother  of  Grendel, 
a  beast  even  more  terrible,  dwelt  on  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
or  lake,  whence  she  came  to  avenge  her  son's  death.  The 
warfare  of  Beoyailf  was  now  transferred  from  land  to  the 
depths  of  the  sea.  Hrothgar  tells  the  hero  about  the  new 
danger : 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  73 

iNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 
HROTHGAR  SEEKS  BEOWULF'S  AID  A  SECOND  TIME 

"I  have  heard  it  said  by  the  land-dwellers, 
by  my  own  subjects,  my  hall-counsellors, 
that  they  have  seen  a  pair  of  such 
mighty  march-stalkers  holding  the  moors, 
stranger-spirits,  whereof  the  one, 
so  far  as  they  could  certainly  know, 
was  in  form  of  a  woman ;  the  other,  accurst, 
trod  an  exile's  steps  in  the  figure  of  man 
(save  that  he  huger  than  other  men  was), 
whom  in  days  of  yore  the  dwellers  on  earth 
Grendel  named. 

That  secret  land  they  dwell  in,  wolf-dens, 
the  perilous  fen-path,  where  the  mountain  stream 
downward  flows  'neath  the  mists-of  the  headlands, 
the  flood  under  earth.    'Tis  not  far  thence, 
a  mile  in  measure,  that  the  sea  stands, 
over  which  hang  rustling  groves ; 
a  wood  fast  rooted  the  water  overshadows. 

"There  every  night  may  be  seen  a  dire  wonder, 
fire  in  the  flood.    None  so  wise  lives 
of  the  children  of  men,  who  knows  the  bottom. 
Although  the  heath-stepper,  wearied  by  hounds, 
the  stag  strong  of  horns,  seek  that  wood, 
driven  from  far,  he  will  give  up  his  life, 
his  breath,  on  the  shore,  ere  he  will  venture 
his  head  upon  it.    That  is  no  pleasant  place. 
Again  now  is  counsel 

in  thee  alone !    The  spot  thou  yet  know'st  not, 
the  perilous  place  where  thou  may'st  find 
this  sinful  being.    Seek  if  thou  dare. 
With  riches  will  I  for  the  strife  reward  thee, 
with  ancient  treasures,  as  I  did  before, 
with  twisted  gold,  if  thou  comest  off  safe." 

Beowulf  spake,  chief  of  the  Geats: 

"Sorrow  not,  sage  man,  'tis  better  for  each 
to  avenge  his  friend  than  greatly  to  mourn. 


74  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

Each  of  US  must  an  end  await 

of  this  world's  life ;  let  him  work  who  can 

high  deeds  ere  death ;  that  will  be  for  the  warrior, 

when  he  is  lifeless,  afterwards  best. 

Rise,  lord  of  the  realm,  let  us  quickly  go 

to  see  the  course  of  GrendeFs  parent. 

I  promise  thee,  not  to  the  sea  shall  she  escape, 

nor  to  earth's  embrace,  nor  to  mountain-wood, 

nor  to  ocean's  ground,  go  whither  she  will. 

This  day  do  thou  endurance  have 

in  every  woe,  as  I  expect  of  thee !" 

Up  leapt  the  old  man  then,  thanked  God, 
the  mighty  Lord,  for  what  the  man  said. 
For  Hrothgar  then  a  horse  was  bridled, 
a  steed  with  curled  mane.    The  ruler  wise 
in  state  went  forth ;  a  troop  strode  on, 
bearing  their  shields.     Tracks  there  were 
along  the  forest  paths  widely  seen, 
her  course  o'er  the  ground. 

Then  overpassed  these  sons  of  nobles 
deep  rocky  gorges,  a  narrow  road, 
strait  lonely  paths,  an  unknown  way, 
precipitous  headlands,  monster-dens  many. 
He  went  in  advance,  he  and  a  few 
of  the  wary  men,  to  view  the  plain, 
till  suddenly  he  found  mountain-trees 
overhanging  a  hoary  rock, 
a  joyless  wood ;  there  was  water  beneath. 

Beowulf  girt  himself 
in  war-like  weeds ;  for  life  he  feared  not ; 
his  warrior-coat,  woven  by  hands, 
ample  and  inlaid,  must  tempt  the  deep ; 
it  could  well  his  body  protect 
that  battle-grip  might  not  scathe  his  breast, 
the  fierce  one's  wily  grasp  injure  his  life. 
But  the  flashing  helm  guarded  his  head, 
(which  with  the  sea-bottom  was  to  mingle 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  75 

Minillll.llllllllMIIIIIIIIIIHnillUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllllllllllillHUIIIIIIIIU 

and  seek  the  sea-surge)  with  jewels  adorned, 

encircled  with  chains,  as  in  days  of  yore 

the  weapon-smith  wrought  it,  wondrously  framed, 

set  with  swine-figures,  so  that  thereafter 

no  brand  nor  war-sword  ever  could  bite  it. 

Nor  then  was  that  least  of  powerful  aids 
which  Hrothgar's  warrior  lent  him  at  need: 
Hrunting  was  named  the  hilted  sword. 
'Twas  among  the  foremost  of  olden  treasures; 
its  edge  was  iron,  tainted  with  poison, 
harden'd  with  warrior-blood;  ne'er  in  battle 
had  it  failed  any  of  those  that  brandished  it, 
who  durst  to  travel  the  ways  of  terror, 
the  perilous  ways.    'Twas  not  the  first  time 
that  it  a  valorous  deed  should  perform. 

Beowulf  spake,  the  great  hero : 

''Eemember  thou  now,  good  man, 
sagacious  prince,  now  I  am  ready  to  go, 
0  gold-friend  of  men,  the  things  we  have  spoken : 
If  I  should  lose  my  life  for  thy  need, 
that  thou  wouldst  ever  be  to  me, 
when  I  am  gone,  in  a  father's  stead. 
Be  a  guardian  thou  to  my  fellow  warriors, 
to  my  near  comrades,  if  war  take  me  off. 
Also  the  treasures  which  thou  hast  given  me, 
beloved  Hrothgar,  send  to  my  King. 
By  that  gold  then  may  the  lord  of  the  Geats  know, 
when  he  looks  on  that  treasure, 
that  I  in  man's  virtue  have  found  one  pre-eminent, 
a  giver  of  rings,  and  rejoiced  while  I  might. 
And  let  him  have  the  ancient  relic, 
the  wondrous  war-sword.     I  with  Hrunting 
will  work  me  renown,  or  death  shall  take  me." 

Beowulf's  victory  over  grendel's  mother 
After  these  words  the  great  chieftain 
with  ardor  hastened,  nor  any  answer 


76  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiHMiiiiiiiiiiiininiiiiMiiiiniiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMtiMiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiniMiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiim 

would  he  await.    The  sea-wave  received 

the  warrior-hero.    It  was  a  day's  space 

ere  he  the  bottom  could  perceive. 

Forthwith  she  found — she  who  the  flood's  course 

had  blood-thirsty  held  a  hundred  years, 

grim  and  greedy — that  a  man  from  above 

was  there  exploring  the  realm  of  strange  creatures. 

Then  at  him  she  grasped,  the  warrior  seized 

in  her  horrible  claws.  Notwithstanding  she  crushed  not 

his  unhurt  body ;  the  ring-mail  guarded  him, 

so  that  she  might  not  pierce  that  war-dress, 

the  lock-linked  coat,  with  her  hostile  fingers. 

Then  when  the  sea-wolf  reached  the  bottom, 
she  bore  to  her  dwelling  the  prince  of  rings 
so  that  he  might  not,  brave  as  he  was, 
his  weapons  wield ;  for  many  strange  beings 
in  the  deep  oppressed  him,  many  a  sea-beast 
with  its  battle  tusks  his  war-shirt  broke; 
the  wretches  pursued  him.    Then  the  hero  found 
he  was  in  he  knew  not  what  dread  hall, 
where  him  no  water  in  aught  could  scathe, 
nor  because  of  the  roof  could  the  sudden  grip 
of  the  flood  reach  him ;  he  saw  a  fire-light, 
a  brilliant  beam  brightly  shining. 
The  hero  perceived  then  the  wolf  of  the  deeps, 
the  mighty  mother  of  Grendel;  a  powerful  onslaught 
he  made  with  his  sword, 
so  on  her  head  the  ringed  weapon  sang 
a  horrid  war-song.    The  guest  then  discovered 
how  that  the  battle-beam  would  not  bite, 
would  not  scathe  life,  but  that  the  edge  failed 
its  lord  at  his  need ;  previously  had  it  endured 
hand-confiicts  many,  slashed  often  the  helm, 
war-garb  of  the  doomed ;  then  was  the  first  time 
for  the  precious  gift  that  its  power  failed. 

Still  was  he  resolute,  slacked  not  his  ardor, 
of  great  deeds  mindful  was  the  great  chieftain. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  77 

liiiiiiiiiiiiiMiriiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiitiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiu^^ 

Flung  he  the  twisted  sword,  curiously  bound, 
the  angry  champion,  that  stiff  and  steel-edged, 
it  lay  on  the  earth ;  in  his  strength  he  trusted, 
his  powerful  hand-grip.     So  shall  man  do, 
when  he  in  battle  thinks  of  gaining 
lasting  praise,  nor  cares  for  his  life. 

By  the  shoulder  then  seized  he   (heeded  not  her 
malice), 
the  lord  of  the  war-Geats,  Grendel's  mother; 
the  fierce  fighter  hurled,  incensed  as  he  was, 
the  mortal  foe,  that  she  fell  to  the  ground. 
She  quickly  repaid  him  again  in  full 
with  her  fierce  grasps,  and  at  him  caught; 
then  stumbled  he  weary,  of  warriors  the  strongest, 
the  active  champion,  so  that  he  fell. 
She  pressed  down  the  hall-guest,  and  drew  her  dagger, 
the  broad  gleaming  blade, — would  avenge  her  son, 
her  only  child.    On  his  shoulder  lay 
the  braided  breast-net  which  shielded  his  life 
'gainst  point,  'gainst  edge,  all  entrance  withstood. 

Then  would  have  perished  Beowulf 
'neath  the  wide  earth,  champion  of  the  Geats, 
had  not  his  war-coat  help  afforded, 
his  battle-net  hard,  and  holy  God 
awarded  the  victory.    The  wise  Lord, 
Euler  of  Heaven,  with  justice  decided  it 
easily,  when  he  again  stood  up. 


At  the  time  of  his  greatest  need,  Beowulf  saw  an  old 
sword,  one  that  the  giants  had  used  long  ago.  This  he 
seized  and  with  it  dealt  a  blow  so  mighty  that  the  monster 
sank  in  death.  Then  the  sword,  covered  with  battle-gore 
like  bloody  icicles,  melted  like  ice  when  the  Father- relaxes 
the  bands  of  the  frost.  Beowulf  found  the  corpse  of 
Grendel,  and  took  back  to  the  upper  air  the  monster's  head. 


78  Builders  of  Democracy 


BEOWULF   RETURNS   TO   HIS   WARRIORS 

He  swam  up  through  the  water. 
The  ocean  surges  all  were  cleansed, 
the  dwellings  vast,  when  the  stranger  guest 
her  life-days  left  and  this  fleeting  existence. 
Then  came  to  land  the  sailor^s  protector 
stoutly  swimming,  rejoiced  in  his  sea-spoil, 
the  mighty  burden  of  what  he  brought  with  him. 
Then  toward  him  they  went,  with  thanks  to  Grod, 
the  stout  band  of  thanes,  rejoiced  in  their  lord, 
because  they  beheld  him  safe  and  sound. 
From  the  vigorous  chief  both  helm  and  coat  of  mail 
were  then  soon  loosed.    The  sea  subsided — 
the  cloud-shadowed  water  with  death-gore  dappled. 

Thence  forth  they  went  retracing  their  steps, 
happy  at  heart,  the  high-way  measured, 
the  well-known  road.    The  nobly  bold,  men 
up  from  the  sea-shore  bore  the  head, 
not  without  labor  for  each  of  them, 
the  mightily  daring.    Four  undertook 
with  toil  to  bear  on  the  battle-spear, 
up  to  the  gold-hall,  the  head  of  Grendel ; 
until  stiaightway  to  the  hall  they  came, 
resolute,  warlike,  four  and  ten  of  them, 
Geats  all  marching  with  their  lord. 
Proud  amid  the  throng,  he  trod  the  meadows. 

Then  entering  came  the  prince  Beowulf, 
the  deed-strong  man  with  glory  honored, 
the  man  bold  in  battle,  Hrothgar  to  greet. 
And  into  the  hall,  where  men  were  feasting, 
Grendel's  head  by  the  hair  was  borne, 
a  thing  of  terror  to  nobles  and  queen. 

Beowulf's  last  adventure 
There  yet  remains  a  third  adventure.   Beowulf  became 
king,  and  ruled  wisely  his  land  for  many  years.   Then  one 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  79 

IHUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIinilllMMIIIIIIinilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIII 

day  a  new  terror  came  upon  the  people.  A  dragon  flew  over 
the  land,  spurting  forth  live  coals  which  set  the  cheerful 
farmsteads  aflame ;  the  flame-light  flared  aloft  in  defiance  of 
men;  the  hostile  air-flyer  would  leave  nothing  there  alive, 
the  rage  of  the  foe  was  seen  far  and  near,  how  the  ravaging 
invader  hated  and  ruined  the  people.  After  he  had  spread 
terror  and  destruction,  he  shot  back  to  his  dark  mansion 
before  the  light  of  day.  The  poet  tells  us  that  he  had  en- 
compassed the  land  folk  with  flame;  he  trusted  in  his 
mountain,  his  warcraft,  and  his  rampart;  that  confidence 
deceived  him. 

Then  Beowulf  prepared  him  for  battle,  uprose  the  reso- 
lute warrior,  stern  under  his  helmet;  he  found  out  the 
dragon's  lair.  N'o  man  could  endure  the  flame.  The  foe 
came  upon  him,  curved  like  an  arch,  but  the  hero  smote 
the  spotted  horror  with  his  mighty  sword,  which  was  bent 
and  broken  by  the  monster's  bony  crust.  Aided  by  a  young 
hero  who  alone  of  all  Beowulf's  followers  dared  face  the 
frightful  fires,  the  king  once  more  achieved  victory,  though 
he  received  his  death  wound  in  the  combat.  The  youth 
upbraided  those  who  had  deserted  their  lord, — 

"Death  is  preferable,  for  every  warrior,  rather  than 
a  life  of  infamy." 


The  old  story  has  for  us  strange  attraction.  No  evil  am- 
bition spurred  this  first  of  our  heroes  on,  no  passion  for 
conquest.  It  was  to  help  make  the  world  safe  for  those 
who  must  live  in  it.  He  drew  his  sword  in  behalf  of  men 
oppressed  by  cruelty  and  terror. 

The  monsters  of  the  old  tale  suggest  to  us  the  evil 


80  Builders  of  Democracy 

forces  that  appear  from  time  to  time  among  men,  now 
in  one  form  and  now  in  another.  Whenever  they  appear, 
men  must  overthrow  them,  no  matter  at  what  cost. 

In  a  far-off  time,  while  there  was  yet  no  England,  men 
from  whom  we  trace  our  descent  told  this  tale  of  a  hero. 
This  hero  met  and  conquered  three  monsters  that  fought 
through  desire  for  blood  and  power  and  not  according 
to  the  rules  of  honorable  war.  The  first  attacked  through 
treachery  a  helpless  people.  The  second  made  foul  the 
sea.  The  third  shot  fire  from  the  air  upon  the  farm- 
steads, destroying  homes  and  burning  to  death  innocent 
people  who  had  done  him  no  wrong.  In  the  destruction  of 
Belgium,  in  the  lawless  and  cruel  submarine  warfare,  and 
in  the  Zeppelin  raids  over  England,  the  old  story  becomes 
alive  once  more.  The  ideals  held  by  English-speaking 
.peoples  today  have  a  history  that  extends  back  through  more 
than  a  thousand  years. 


II  .y 

HOW  THE  ENGLISH  NATION  WAS  FORMED,  AND  HOW  IN  THE 
DAYS  OF  CHIVALRY  A  LAD  WAS  PREPARED  FOR  KNIGHT- 
HOOD. OF  THE  CALL  TO  THE  COLORS  IN  THOSE  OLD  DAYS, 
AND  THE  STORY  OF  THE  GOOD  KING  ARTHUR,  WHO  WAS  ONE 
OF  THE  BUILDERS. 

"Some  say  that  the  age  of  chivalry  is  past.     The  age  of  chivalry  is  never 

Kist,  30  long  as  there  is  a  wrong  left  unredressed  on  earth,  or  a  man  or  woman 
ft  to  say,    'I   will  redress   that  wrong  or  spend  my  life  in  the  attempt.'  " 

— Charles  Kingsley. 

• 

The  story  of  Beowulf  is  made  up  of  legends  that  clus- 
tered about  the  name  of  some  northern  hero  who  never  lived 
in  England.    But  his  story  became,  as  we  have  seen,  repre- 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  81 

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sentative  of  English  ideals  in  that  period  when  the  founda- 
tions of  England  were  being  laid. 

The  Northern  tribes — Angles,  Saxons,  and  others,  who 
settled  in  England  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  drove 
back  into  the  mountains  of  Wales  the  native  Britons.  These 
people,  who  were  imaginative,  brave,  lovers  of  stories  of 
magic  and  enchantment,  had  their  own  hero,  King  Arthur, 
who  fought  the  Romans  and  also  conquered  the  Saxon 
invaders  in  twelve  great  battles. 

The  British,  or  Welsh  as  they  are  known  to  us,  still 
keep  traces  of  their  old  language  and  traditions.  In  the 
sixteenth  century  a  Welsh  family,  to  which  Henry  VIII 
and  the  great  Queen  Elizabeth  belonged,  ruled  England, 
and  David  Lloyd  George,  Premier  of  Great  Britain  during 
the  war,  is  a  Welshman ;  that  is,  he  is  descended  from  the 
race  to  which  King  Arthur  belonged. 

The  English  race  is  the  result  of  a  combination  of  many 
races.  We  ha.ve  already  named  some  of  the  Northern 
tribes  that  conquered  Britain.  In  1066  the  Normans  came 
over  from  France  and  brought  new  elements  into  English 
blood  and  life.  England  and  America  are  alike  in  their 
power  to  receive  and  to  mould  into  one  race  men  from 
very  different  nationalities.  President  Wilson  recently 
delivered  an  address  before  representatives  of  thirty-three 
different  nationalities,  all  of  them  good  Americans  now. 
Much  of  the  strength  of  English  and  American  character 
comes  from  the  fact  that  English-speaking  peoples  unite 
the  good  qualities  of  many  races. 

So  it  happens  that  the  story  of  King  Arthur,  a  British 
hero  of  the  sixth  century,  is  also  the  product  of  many 
racial  influences.    From  the  twelfth  century  on,  this  story 


82  Builders  of  Democracy 

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iriiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiir iiiiiiiiiiiihiii iiiiiii 

grew  from  French  and  English  sources  until  it  came  to 
portray  the  best  ideals  of  the  age  of  chivalry.  In  the  fif- 
teenth century  many  different  legends  about  Arthur  were 
woven  into  one  story  by  Sir  Thomas  Malory.  In  the  six- 
teenth century,  the  greatest  poem  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
time,  Spenser's  Faerie  Queene,  made  use  of  this  material. 
And  almost  within  our  own  time  the  story  was  told  again 
by  Alfred  Tennyson  in  his  Idylls  of  the  King, 

From  all  these  sources  we  learn  what  chivalry  was,  and 
what  an  influence  it  had  upon  restoring  order  and  peace  in 
rude  times,  in  bringing  gentler  manners  among  men,  in 
developing  a  desire  to  right  all  wrongs  and  drive  out  evil 
customs,  and  in  giving  to  women  a  higher  place. 

How  a  boy  was  trained  for  knighthood  may  be  learned 
from  the  selection  that  follows. 


HOW  KNIGHTHOOD  WAS  WON 

SAMUEL  B.   HARDING 

At  about  seven  years  of  age,  a  boy  of  high  birth  was 
usually  sent  away  from  home  to  be  trained  in  the  castle 
of  some  noble  lord.  There  he  spent  some  years  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  lord  and  lady  of  the  castle,  and  was  taught 
how  to  bear  himself  politely.  When  older,  he  attended  his 
lord,  learning  to  ride,  to  hunt,  and  to  use  the  arms  of 
nobility — the  shield,  the  sword,  and  the  lance.  When 
skilled  in  these  things,  he  became  a  "squire";  his  duty 
thenceforth  was  to  accompany  his  lord  to  the  tournament 
or  to  battle,  to  help  him  put  on  his  armor,  to  provide  him 
with  a  fresh  lance  or  a  fresh  horse  in  the  combat,  and  in 
case  of  need  to  give  him  aid.    After  several  years  of  such 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  83 

IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUllllllllllltlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 

service,  having  proved  his  skill  and  his  courage,  the  young 
squire  was  ready  to  become  a  "knight." 

Often  the  ceremony  of  conferring  ^^knighthood"  was  not 
performed  until  the  squire  had  "won  his  spurs''  by  some 
heroic  deed.  The  highest  ambition  of  the  young  man  was 
to  be  knighted  on  the  field  of  battle,  as  a  reward  for  bravery. 
When  this  was  done  the  ceremony  was  simple.  Some 
famous  knight  would  strike  the  kneeling  youth  upon  the 
shoulder  and  say,  "I  dub  thee  knight." 

The  ordinary  ceremony  was  much  more  elaborate.  The 
first  step  in  this  was  a  bath,  signifying  purification.  Then 
the  squire  put  on  garments  of  red,  white,  and  black — red, 
for  the  blood  he  must  shed  in  defense  of  the  Church ;  white, 
for  purity  of  mind ;  hlcbch,  in  memory  of  death,  which  comes 
to  all.  Then  came  "the  vigil  of  arms"  in  the  church,  where 
he  watched  and  prayed  all  night,  either  standing  or  kneel- 
ing before  the  altar,  on  which  lay  his  sword.  At  daybreak 
the  priest  came,  the  squire  confessed  his  sins,  heard  mass, 
and  partook  of  the  holy  sacrament.  Then  perhaps  he  list- 
ened, with  the  other  candidates  for  knighthood,  to  a  sermon 
on  the  proud  duties  of  a  knight.  Later  in  the  morning  he 
appeared  before  his  lord,  or  some  other  well-known  knight, 
and  his  spurs  were  fastened  on  his  feet  and  his  sword  was 
girt  about  him.  Then  he  knelt  before  his  lord,  and  the 
latter  gave  him  the  "accolade" ;  that  is,  he  struck  the  squire 
a  blow  upon  the  neck  with  his  fist,  or  with  the  flat  of  his 
sword,  and  said: 

"In  the  name  of  God,  and  Saint  Michael,  and  Saint 
George,  I  dub  thee  knight.    Be  brave  and  loyal." 

After  this  the  new  knight  gave  an  exhibition  of  his  skill 
in  riding  and  in  the  use  of  weapons,  and  the  day  ended 


84  Builders  of  Democracy 

viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiMiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMMiiuMiiiiMuiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininiiinmiiiiririiitiiiiMMiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiniMiiiim 

with  feasting  and  merry-making.  As  a  true  knight,  he 
was  expected  to  be  loyal  to  his  lord  and  to  the  Ch\irch,  to 
be  just  and  pure  in  his  life,  and  to  be  kind  to  all  in  need 
of  his  help,  especially  to  defenseless  women. — From  The 
Story  of  England. 

But  Arthur  became  one  of  the  Builders  not  so  much 
through  his  actual  achievements  as  through  the  influence 
exerted  for  centuries  by  the  legends  that  have  gathered 
about  him.  Almost  every  great  English  poet  has  had  some- 
thing to  say  about  Arthur.  Of  the  many  stories,  two  are 
given  here. 

The  first  shows  how  the  young  king  was  subjected  to  a 
severe  test,  and  how  he  got  his  famous  sword  Excalibur. 


THE    FINDING    OF    EXCALIBURi 

Now  when  Arthur  was  first  made  King,  as  young  knights 
will,  he  courted  peril  for  its  own  sake,  and  often  would  he 
ride  unattended  by  lonely  forest  ways,  seeking  the  adven- 
ture that  chance  might  send  him.  All  unmindful  was  he 
of  the  ruin  to  his  realm  if  mischief  befell  him;  and  even 
his  trusty  counsellors,  though  they  grieved  that  he  should 
thus  imperil  him,  yet  could  not  but  love  him  the  more  for 
his  hardihood. 

So,  on  a  day,  he  rode  through  the  Forest  Perilous 
where  dwelt  the  Lady  Annoure,  a  sorceress  of  great  might, 
who  used  her  magic  powers  but  for  the  furtherance  of  her 

iTaken,  by  permission,  from  the  Elson  Grammar  School  Reader, 
Book  III. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  85 

iiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiniiii.JiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiii 

own  desires.  And  as  she  looked  from  a  turret  window,  she 
descried-^ing  Arthur  come  riding  down  a  forest  glade,  and 
the  sunbeams  falling  upon  him  made  one  glory  of  his 
ai3iior  and  of  his  yellow  hair.  Then,  as  Annoure  gazed 
upon  the  King,  she  resolved  that,  come  what  might,  she 
would  have  him  for  her  own,  to  dwell  with  her  always  and 
fulfill  all  her  behests.  And  so  she  bade  lower  the  draw- 
bridge and  raise  the  portcullis,  and  sallying  forth  accom- 
panied by  her  maidens,  she  gave  King  Arthur  courteous 
ealutation,  and  prayed  him  that  he  would  rest  within  her 
castle  that  day,  for  that  she  had  a  petition  to  make  to  him ; 
and  Arthur,  doubting  nothing  of  her  good  faith,  suffered 
himself  to  be  led  within. 

Then  was  a  great  feast  spread,  and  Annoure  caused  the 
King  to  be  seated  in  a  chair  of  state  at  her  right  hand, 
while  squires  and  pages  served  him  on  bended  knee.  So 
when  they  had  feasted,  the  King  turned  to  the  Lady  An- 
noure and  said  courteously : 

"Lady,  somewhat  ye  said  of  a  request  that  ye  would  make. 
If  there  be  aught  in  which  I  may  give  pleasure  to  you,  I 
pray  you  let  me  know  it,  and  I  will  serve  you  as  knightly 
as  I  may." 

"In  truth,"  said  the  lady,  "there  is  that  which  I  would 
fain  entreat  of  you,  most  noble  knight;  yet  suffer,  I  be- 
seech you,  that  first  I  may  show  you  somewhat  of  my  castle 
and  my  estate,  and  then  I  crave  a  boon  of  your  chivalry." 

Then  the  sorceress  led  King  Arthur  from  room  to  room 
of  her  castle,  and  ever  each  displayed  greater  store  of  beauty 
than  the  last.  In  some,  the  walls  were  hung  with  rich 
tapestries,  in  others  they  gleamed  with  precious  stones ;  and 
the  King  marveled  what  might  be  the  petition  of  one  that 


86  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

was  mistress  of  such  wealth.  Lastly,  Annoure  brought  the 
King  out  upon  the  battlements,  and  as  he  gazed,  around 
him,  he  saw  that,  since  he  had  entered  the  castle,  there 
had  sprung  up  about  it  triple  walls  of  defense  that  shut 
out  wholly  the  forest  from  view.  Then  turned  he  to  An- 
noure, and  gravely  said : 

"Lady,  greatly  I  marvel  in  what  a  simple  knight  may 
give  pleasure  to  one  that  is  mistress  of  so  wondrous  a  castle 
as  ye  have  shown  me  here;  yet  if  there  be  aught  in  which 
I  may  render  you  knightly  service,  right  gladly  would  I 
hear  it  now,  for  I  must  go  forth  upon  my  way  to  render 
service  to  those  whose  knight  I  am  sworn." 

"Nay,  now.  King  Arthur,"  answered  the  sorceress  mock- 
ingly, "ye  may  not  deceive  me !  for  well  I  know  you,  and 
that  all  Britain  bows  to  your  behest." 

"The  more  reason  then  that  I  should  ride  forth  to  right 
wrong  and  succor  them  that,  of  their  loyalty,  render  true 
obedience  to  their  lord." 

"Ye  speak  as  a  fool,"  said  the  sorceress ;  "why  should  one 
that  may  command  be  at  the  beck  and  call  of  every  hind 
and  slave  within  his  realm  ?  Nay,  rest  thee  here  with  me, 
and  I  will  make  thee  ruler  of  a  richer  land  than  Britain, 
and  satisfy  thy  every  desire." 

"Lady,"  said  the  King  sternly,  "I  will  hear  and  judge 
of  your  petition  here  and  now,  and  then  will  I  go  forth 
upon  my  way." 

"Nay,"  said  Annoure,  "there  needs  not  this  harshness.  I 
did  but  speak  for  thine  advantage.  Only  vow  thee  to  my 
service,  and  there  is  naught  that  thou  canst  desire  that  thou 
shalt  not  possess.  Thou  shalt  be  lord  of  this  fair  castle  and 
of  the  mighty  powers  that  obey  me.  Why  waste  thy  youth  in 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  87 

iiitniiiiuiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniuiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiuuiiiiiMniiiniiiiuMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

hardship  and  m  the  service  of  such  as  shall  render  thee 
little  enough  again?" 

Thereupon,  without  ever  a  word,  the  King  turned  him 
about  and  made  for  the  turret  stair  by  which  he  had  as- 
scended,  but  nowhere  could  he  find  it.  Then  said  the  sor- 
ceress, mocking  him : 

"Fair  sir,  how  think  ye  to  escape  without  my  goodwill? 
See  ye  not  the  walls  that  guard  my  stronghold  ?  And  think 
ye  that  I  have  not  servants  enough  to  do  my  bidding  ?" 

She  clapped  her  hands  and,  forthwith,  Jhere  appeared  a 
company  of  squires  who,  at  her  command,  seized  the  King 
and  bore  him  away  to  a  strong  chamber  where  they  locked 
him  in. 

And  so  the  King  abode  that  night,  the  prisoner  of  that 
evil  sorceress,  with  little  hope  that  day,  when  it  dawned, 
should  bring  him  better  cheer.  Yet  lost  he  not  courage,  but 
kept  watch  and  vigil  the  night  through,  lest  the  powers  of 
evil  should  assail  him  unawares.  And  with  the  early  morn- 
ing light,  Annoure  came  to  visit  him.  More  stately  she 
sfeemed  than  the  night  before,  more  tall  and  more  terrible ; 
and  her  dress  was  one  blaze  of  flashing  gems  so  that  scarce 
could  the  eye  look  upon  her.  As  a  queen  might  address  a 
vassal,  so  greeted  she  the  King,  and  as  condescending  to 
one  of  low  estate,  asked  how  he  had  fared  that  night.  And 
the  King  made  answer : 

"I  have  kept  vigil  as  behooves  a  knight  who,  knowing 
himself  to  be  in  the  midst  of  danger,  would  bear  himself 
meetly  in  any  peril  that  should  offer," 

And  the  Lady  Annoure,  admiring  his  knightly  courage, 
desired  more  earnestly  even  than  before  to  win  him  to  her 
will,  and  she  said : 


88  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinii iiiiiiii iiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

"Sir  Arthur^  I  know  well  your  courage  and  knightly 
fame,  and  greatly  do  I  desire  to  keep  you  with  me.  Stay 
with  me  and  I  promise  that  ye  shall  bear  sway  over  a  wider 
realm  than  any  that  ye  ever  heard  of,  and  I,  even  I,  its 
mistress,  will  be  at  your  command.  And  what  lose  ye  if 
ye  accept  my  offer?  Little  enough;  for  never  think  that 
ye  shall  win  the  world  from  evil  and  men  to  loyalty  and 
truth." 

Then  answered  the  King  in  anger :  "Full  well  I  see  that 
thou  art  in  league  with  evil  and  that  thou  but  seekest  to 
turn  me  from  my  purpose.  I  defy  thee,  foul  sorceress.  Do 
thy  worst ;  though  thou  slay  me,  thou  shalt  never  sway  me 
to  thy  will" ;  and  therewith,  the  King  raised  his  cross-hilted 
sword  before  her.  Then  the  lady  quailed  at  that  sight.  Her 
heart  was  filled  with  hate,  but  she  said : 

"Go  your  way,  proud  King  .of  a  petty  realm.  Eule  well 
your  race  of  miserable  mortals,  since  it  pleases  you  more 
than  to  bear  sway  over  the  powers  of  the  air.  I  keep  you 
not  against  your  will." 

With  these  words,  she  passed  from  the  chamber,  and  the 
King  heard  her  give  command  to  her  squires  to  set  him 
without  her  gates,  give  him  his  horse,  and  suffer  him  to  go 
on  his  way. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the  King  found  himself  once 
more  at  large,  and  marveled  to  have  won  so  lightly  to 
liberty.  Yet  knew  he  not  the  depths  of  treachery  in  the 
heart  of  Annoure;  for  when  she  found  she  might  not  pre- 
vail with  the  King,  she  bethought  her  how,  by  mortal  means, 
she  might  bring  the  King  to  dishonor  and  death.  And  so, 
by  her  magic  art,  she  caused  the  King  to  follow  a  path 
that  brought  him  to  a  fountain,  whereby  a  knight  had  his 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  89 

iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

tent,  and,  for  the  love  of  adventure,  held  the  way  against  all 
comers.  ISTow  this  knight  was  Sir  Pellinore,  and  at  that 
time,  he  had  not  his  equal  for  strength  and  knightly  skill, 
n,or  had  any  been  found  tliat  might  stand  against  him.  So, 
is  the  King  drew  nigh,  Pellinore  cried: 
(  "Stay,  knight,  for  no  one  passes  this  way  except  he  joust 
with  me." 

"That  is  not  a  good  custom,"  said  the  King ;  "and  it  were 
well  that  ye  followed  it  no  more." 

"It  is  my  custom,  and  I  will'  follow  it  still,"  answered 
Pellinore ;  "if  ye  like  it  not,  amend  it  if  ye  can." 

"I  will  do  my  endeavor,"  said  Arthur,  '^ut,  as  ye  see,  I 
have  no  spear." 

"Nay,  I  seek  not  to  have  you  at  disadvantage,"  replied 
Pellinore,  and  bade  his  squire  give  x\rthur  a  spear.  Then 
they  dressed  their  shields,  l;aid  their  lances  in  rest,  and 
rushed  upon  each  other.  Now  the  King  was  wearied  by  his 
night's  vigil,  and  the  strength  of  Pellinore  was  as  the 
strength  of  three  men;  so,  at  the  first  encounter,  Arthur 
was  unhorsed.    Then  said  he : 

"I  have  lost  the  honor  on  horseback,  but  now  will  I  en- 
counter thee  with  my  sword  and  on  foot." 

"I,  too,  will  alight,"  said  Pellinore ;  "small  honor  to  me 
were  it  if  I  slew  thee  on  foot,  I  being  horsed  the  while."  So 
they  encountered  each  other  on  foot,  and,  so  fiercely  they 
fought  that  they  hewed  off  great  pieces  of  each  other's 
armor  and  the  ground  was  dyed  with  their  blood.  But  at 
last,  Arthur's  sword  broke  off  short  at  the  hilt,  and  so  he 
stood  all  defenseless  before  his  foe. 

"I  have  thee  now,"  cried  Pellinore;  "yield  thee  as  rec- 
reant or  I  will  slay  thee." 


90  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiMiiiuiiiiiinMiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiniiiinHiiiiiiiruiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiininiirMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

"That  will  I  never/'  said  the  King,  "slay  me  if  thou 
canst/' 

Then  he  sprang  on  Pellinore,  caught  him  by  the  middle, 
and  flung  him  to  the  ground,  himself  falling  with  him.  And 
Sir  Pellinore  marveled,  for  never  before  had  he  encountered 
so  bold  arid  resolute  a  foe;  but  exerting  his  great  strength, 
he  rolled  himself  over,  and  so  brought  Arthur  beneath  him. 
Then  Arthur  would  have  perished,  but  at  that  moment 
Merlin  stood  beside  him,  and  when  Sir  Pellinore  would 
have  struck  off  the  King's  head,  stayed  his  blow,  crying: 

"Pellinore,  if  thou  slayest  this  knight,  thou  puttest  the 
whole  realm  in  peril;  for  this  is  none  other  than  King 
Arthur  himself." 

Then  was  Pellinore  filled  with  dread,  and  cried : 

"Better  make  an  end  of  him  at  once ;  for  if  I  suffer  him 
to  live,  what  hope  have  I  of  his  grace,  that  have  dealt  with 
him  so  sorely?" 

But  before  Pellinore  could  strike.  Merlin  caused  a  deep 
sleep  to  come  upon  him ;  and  raising  King  Arthur  from  the 
ground,  he  staunched  his  wounds  and  recovered  him  of 
his  swoon. 

But  when  the  King  came  to  himself,  he  saw  his  foe  lie, 
still  as  in  death,  on  the  ground  beside  him;  and  he  was 
grieved,  and  said: 

"Merlin,  what  have  ye  done  to  this  brave  knight  ?  [N'ay, 
if  ye  have  slain  him,  I  shall  grieve  my  life  long;  for  a  good 
knight  he  is,  bold  and  a  fair  fighter,  though  something 
wanting  in  knightly  courtesy." 

"He  is  in  better  case  than  ye  are.  Sir  King,  who  so  lightly 
imperil  your  person,  and  thereby  your  kingdom's  welfare; 
and,  as  ye  say,  Pellinore  is  a  stout  knight,  and  hereafter 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  91 

iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiniiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiriiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiniii 

shall  he  serve  you  ^ell.  Have  no  fear.  He  shall  wake  again 
in  threl^ours  and^ave  suffered  naught  by  the  encounter. 
But^r  you,  it  were  w^ll  that  ye  came  where  ye  might  be 
teH^ed  for  your  woundsl-^ 

"Nay/^  replied  the  King,  smiling,  "I  may  not  return  to 
iny  court  thus  weaponless;  first  will  I  find,  means  to  possess 
ine  of  a  sword.'* 

'That  is  easily  done/'  answered  Merlin ;  "follow  me,  and 
I  will  bring  you  where  ye  shall  get  you  a  sword,  the  wonder 
of  the  world.*'  j 

So,  though  his  wounds  pained  him  sore,  the  King  fol- 
lowed Merlin  by  many  a  forest  path  and  glade,  until  they 
came  upon  a  mere,  bosomed  deep  in  the  forest;  and  as  he 
looked  thereon,  the  King  beheld  an  arm,  clothed  in  white 
samite,  above  the  surface  of  thelake,  and  in  the  hand  was 
a  faip  sword  that  gleamed  in  the  level  rays  of  the  setting 
sun. 

"This  is  a  great  marvel,"  said  the  King,  "what  may  it 
mean  ?" 

And  Merlin  made  answer :  "Deep  is  this  mere,  so  deep 
indexed  that  no  man  may  fathom  it;  but  in  its  depths,  and 
built  upon  the  roots  of  the  mountains,  is  the  palace  of  the 
Lady  of  the.  Lake.  Powerful  is  she  with  a  power  that  works 
ever  for  good,  and  she  shall  help  thee  in  thine  hour  of  need." 

Anon  the  damsel  herself  came  unto  Arthur  and  said: 
"Sir  Arthur,  King,  yonder  sword  is  mine  and  if  ye  will 
give  me  a  gift  when  I  ask  it  of  you,  ye  shall  have  it." 

"By  my  faith,"  said  Arthur,  "I  will  give  you  what  gift 
ye  will  ask." 

Then  was  Arthur  aware  of  a  little  skiff,  half  hidden 
among  the  bulrushes  that  fringed  the  lake;  and  leaping 


94 


Builders  of  Democracy 


fiimiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimuii 


The  bold  Sir  Bedivere  uplifted  hin^'^"'"'  "^     " 
And  bore  him  to  a  chapel  nigh  the  field,       ^^ 
A  broken  chancel  with  a  broken  cross,  -^ 

That  stood  on  a  dark  strait  of  -barren  land : 
On  one  side  lay  the  Ocean,  aftd  on  one 
Lay  a  great  water,  and  the  moon  was  full. 

Then  spake  King  iiithnr  to  Sir  Bedivere : 
"The  sequel  of  today  unsolders  all 
The  goodliest  fellotJship  of  famous  knights 
Whereof  this  world  Jiolds  record.     Such  a  sleep 
They  sleep — the  mek  I  loved.    I  think  that  we 
Shall  never  more,  at  any  future  time, 
Delight  our  souls  with  talk  of  knightly  deeds. 
Walking  about  the  gardens  and  the  halls 
Of  Camelot,  as  in  the  days  that  were. 
I  perish  by  this  people  which  I  made, — 
Tho'  Merlin  sware  that  I  should  come  again 
To  rule  once  more ;  but,  let  what  will  be,  be, 
I  am  so  deeply  smitten  thro'  the  helm 
That  without  help  I  cannot  last  till  morn. 
Thou  therefore  take  my  brand  Excalibur, 
Which  was  my  pride :  for  thou  rememberest  how 
In  those  old  days,  one  summer  noon,  an  arm 
Rose  up  from  out  the  bosom  of  the  lake, 
Clothed  iff  white  samite,  mystic,  wonderful. 
Holding  the  sword — and  how  I  row'd  across 
And  took  it,  and  have  worn  it,  like  a  king; 
And,  wheresoever  I  am  sung  or  told 
In  aftertime,  this  also  shall  be  known: 
But  now  delay  not:  take  Excalibur, 
•And  fling  him  far  into  the  middle  mere : 
Watch  what  thou  seest,  and  lightly  bring  me  word." 


To  him  replied  the  bold  Sir  Bedivere : 
"It  is  not  meet.  Sir  King,  to  leave  thee  thus, 
Aidless,  alone,  and  smitten  thro'  the  helm — 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  95 

uiiiiiuiiiiJiuiiiiiiiiiMiiniiiiiiuiiiniiniMUiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiHiiim 

A  little  thuS^pnay  liarm  a  wounded  man ; 

Yet  I  thy  hest*Nvill  all  perform  at  full, 

W%tc\\  what  I  see,'  and  lightly  bring  thee  word." 

So  saying,  from  ^le  ruin'd  shrine  he  stept, 
And  in  the  moon  athwart  the  place  of  tombs, 
Where  lay  the  mighty -bones  of  ancient  men, 
Old  knights,  and  over  themr.  the  sea-wind  sang 
Shrill,  chill,  with  flakes  of  foam.    He,  stepping  down 
By  zigzag  paths,  and  juts  of  pointed  rock. 
Came  on  the  shining  levels  of  the  lake. 

There  drew  he  forth  the  brand  Excalibur, 
And  o'er  him,  drawing  it,  the  yinter  moon. 
Brightening  the  skirts  of  a  long  cloud,  ran  forth 
And  sparkled  keen  with  frost  against  the  hilt: 
For  all  the  haft  twinkled  witjj  diamond  sparks,   . 
Myriads  of  topaz-lights,  and*  jacinth-work 
Of  subtlest  jewelry.    He  gazed  so  long 
That  both  his  eyes  were, dazzled  as  he  stood. 
This  way  and  that  dividing  the  swift  mind. 
In  act  to  throw;  but  at  the  last  it  seemed 
Better  to  leave  Excalibur  conceal'd 
There  in  the  many-knotted  waterflags, 
Tiiat  whistled  stiff  and  dry  about  the  marge. 
So  strode  he  back  slow  to  the  wounded  King. 

Then  spake  King  Arthur  to  Sir  Bedivere: 
"Hast  thou  performed  my  mission  which  I  gave? 
What  is  it  thou  hast  seen?  or  what  hast  heard?" 

And  answer  made  the  bold  Sir  Bedivere: 
"I  heard  the  ripple  washing  in  the  reeds. 
And  the  wild  water  lapping  on  the  crag." 

To  whom  replied  King  Arthur,  faint  and  pale : 
"Thou  hast  betray 'd  thy  nature  and  thy  name. 
Not  rendering  true  answer,  as  beseem'd 


96  Builders  of  Democracy 


Thy  fealty,  nor  like  a  noble  knighj^t 

For  surer  sign  had  followed,  either  hand, 

Or  voice,  or  else  a  motion  of  the  mere. 

This  is  a  shameful  thing  for  men  to  lie. 

Yet  now,  I  charge  thee,  quickly  go  again. 

As  thou  art  lief  and  dear,  and  do  the  thing 

I  bade  thee,  watch,  and  lightly  bring  me  word.** 

Then  went  Sir  Bedivere  the  second  time 
Across  the  ridge,  and  paced  beside  the  mere. 
Counting  the  dewy  pebbles,  fix'd  in  thought; 
But  when  he  saw  the  wonder  of  the  hilt. 
How  curiously  and  strangely  chased,  he  smote 
His  palms  together,  and  he  cried  aloud : 

"And  if  indeed  I  cast  the  brand  away. 
Surely  a  precious  thing,  one  worthy  note. 
Should  thus  be  lost  for  ever  from  the  earth. 
Which  might  have  pleased  the  eyes  of  many  men. 
What  good  should  follow  this,  if  this  were  done  ? 
What  harm,  undone  ?    Deep  harm  to  disobey. 
Seeing  obedience  is  the  bond  of  rule. 
Were  it  well  to  obey  then,  if  a  king  demand 
An  act  unprofitable,  against  himself? 
The  King  is  sick,  and  knows  not  what  he  does. 
What  record,  or  what  relic  of  my  lord. 
Should  be  to  aftertime,  but  empty  breath 
And  ruiaaors  of  a  doubt?    But  were  this  kept, 
Stored  in  some  treasure-house  of  mighty  kings. 
Some  one  might  show  it  at  a  joust  of  arms. 
Saying,  ^King  Arthur's  sword,  Excalibur, 
Wrought  by  the  lonely  maiden  of  the  Lake. 
Nine  years  she  wrought  it,  sitting  in  the  deeps 
Upon  the  hidden  bases  of  the  hills.' 
So  might  some  old  man  speak  in  the  aftertime 
To  all  the  people,  winning  reverence 
But  now  much  honor  and  much  fame  were  lost." 


I 


Tlie  Builders  and  Their  Work  97 

JiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiHMiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiuiMMiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiituiiuiUOk 

So  Spake  \^  clouded  with  his  own  conceit, 
And  liid  Excalftur  the  second  time, 
And  so  strode  bacfc  slow  to  the  wounded  King. 

Then  spoke  King  A-ithur,  breathing  heavily: 
"What  is  it  thou  hast  seen  ?  or  what  hast  heard  ?" 

And  answer  made  tlfe  bold  Sir  Bedivere: 
"I  heard  the  water  lapping  on  the  crag, 
And  the  long  ripple  washing  in  the  reeds." 

To  whom  replied  King  Arthur,  much  in  wrath : 
"Ah,  miserable  and  unkind,  jintrue, 
Unknightly,  traitor-hearted !   iWoe  is  me ! 
Authority  forgets  a  dying  king, 
Laid  widow'd  of  the  power  in  his  eye 
That  bow'd  the  will.    I  see  thee  what  thou  art, 
For  thou,  the  latest-left  of  aU  my  knights. 
In  whom  should  meet  the  offices  of  all, 
Thou  wouldst  betray  me  for  the  precious  hilt; 
Either  from  lust  of  gold,  or  like  a  girl 
Valuing  the  giddy  pleasure  of  the  eyes. 
Yet,  for  a  man  may  fail  in  duty  twice. 
And  the  third  time  may  prosper,  get  thee  hence : 
But,  if  thou  spare  to  fling  Excalibur, 
I  will  arise  an4-«lay  thee  with  my  hands." 

Then  quickly  rose  Sir  Bedivere,  and  ran. 
And,  leaping  down  the  ridges  lightly,  pl\inged 
Among  the  bulrush  beds,  and  clutch'd  the  sword. 
And  strongly  wheel'd  and  threw  it.    The  great  brand 
Made  lightnings  in  the  splendor  of  the  moon, 
And  flashing  round  and  round,  and  whirl'd  in  an  arch, 
Shot  like  a  streamer  of  the  northern  morn, 
Seen  where  the  moving  isles  of  winter  shock 
By  night,  with  noises  of  the  Northern  Sea. 
So  flash'd  and  fell  the  brand  Excalibur : 
But  ere  he  dipt  the  surface,  rose  an  arm 


98  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiimiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiitiiiri i i iii mt iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii nii itiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiii: 

Clothed  in  white  samite,  mystic,  w9Aderful, 
And  caught  him  by  the  hilt,  and  Jjrandish'd  him 
Three  times,  and  drew  him  un(j6r  in  the  mere.  - . 
And  lightly  went  the  other  to  the  King. 

Then  spoke  King  Arthur,  drawing  thicker  breath: 
"Now  see  I  by  thine  eyes /-that  this  is  done. 
Speak  out :  what  is  it-,thou  hast  heard,  or  seen  ?" 

And  answer  made^  the  bold  Sir  Bedivere : 
"Sir  King,  I  closed  mine  eyelids,  lest  the  gems 
Should  blind  my  purpose,  for  I  never  saw, 
Nor  shall  see,  here  or  elsewhere,  till  I  die. 
Not  tho'  I  live  three  lives  of  mortal  men. 
So  great  a  miracle  as  yonder  hilt. 
Then  with  both  hands  I  flung  him,  wheeling  him ; 
But  when  I  looked  again,  behold  an  arm, 
Clothed  in  white  samite,  mystic,  wonderful, 
That  caught  him  by  the  hilt,  and  brandish'd  him 
Three  times,  and.  drew  him  under  in  the  mere." 

And  answer  made  King  Arthur,  breathing  hard : 
"My  end  draws  nigh ;  ^tis  time  that  I  were  gone. 
Make  broad  thy  shoulders  to  receive  my  weight. 
And  bear  me  to  the  margin;  yet  I  fear 
My  wound  hath  taken  cold,  and 'I  shall  die." 

So  saying,  from  the  pavement  he  half  rose. 
Slowly,  with  pain,  reclining  on  his  arm, 
And  looking  wistfully  with  wide  blue  eyes 
As  in  a  picture.     Him  Sir  Bedivere 
Eemorsefully  regarded  thro'  his  tears, 
And  would  have  spoken,  but  he  found  not  words ; 
Then  took  with  care,  and  kneeling  on  one  knee, 
O'er  both  his  shoulders  drew  the  languid  hands, 
And  rising  bore  him  thro'  the  place  of  tombs. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  99 

uiiiiiuiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiinniiiiuiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiitiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiMiiiiiniiiiiniiiiiin^ 

Then  saw  they  how  there  hove  a  dusky  barge, 
Dark  as  a  fun^l^al  scarf  from  stem  to  stern, 
Beneath  them;  and  descending  they  were  ware 
That  all  the  decks  were  dense  with  stately  forms, 
Black-stoled,  black-hooded,  like  a  dream — by  these 
Three  Queens  with  crowns  of  gold :  and  from  them  rose 
.A  cry  that  shiver'd  to  th.e  tingling  stars 
And,  as  it  were  one  voice,  an  agony 
Of  lamentation,  like  a  wind  that  shrills 
All  night  in  a  waste  land,  where  no  one  comes. 
Or  hath  come,  since  the  makipg  of  the  world. 

Then  murmured  Arthur,  "Place  me  in  the  barge." 
So  to  the  barge  they  came.    There  those  three  Queens 
Put  forth  their  hands,  and  took  the  King,  and  wept. 
But  she,  that  rose  the  tallest  of  them  all 
And  fairest,  laid  his  head  upon  her  lap. 
And  loosed  the  shattered  casque,  and  chafed  his  hands, 
And  call'd  him  by  his  name,  complaining  loud, 
And  dropping  bitter  tears  against  a  brow 
Striped  with  dark  blood-:  for  all  his  face  was  white 
And  colorless,  and  like  the  wither'd  moon 
Smote  by  the  beam  of  the  springing  east ; 
And  all  his  greaves  and  cuisses  dash'd  with  dropS 
Of  onset;  and  the  light  and  lustrous  curls — 
That  made  his  forehead  like  a  rising  sun 
High- from' the  dais-throne — were  parch'd  with  dust; 
Or  clotted  into  points  and  hanging  loose, 
Mix'd  with  the  knightly  growth  that  fringed  his  lips. 
So  like  a  shattered  column  lay  the  King; 
Not  like  that  Arthur  who,  with  lance  in  rest 
From  spur  to  plume  a  star  of  tournament. 
Shot  thro'  the  lists  of  Camelot,  and  charged 
Before  the  eyes  of  ladies  and  of  kings. 

Then  loudly  cried  the  bold  Sir  Bedivere : 
"Ah!  my  Lord  Arthur,  whither  shall  I  go? 
Where  shall  I  hide  my  forehead  and  my  eyes? 


100  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiniiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiniiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiniiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiim^^^^ 

For  now  I  see  the  true  old  times  are''9ead, 
When  every  morning  brought  a  nOble  chance, 
And  every  chance  brought  out  ar  noble  knight. 
Such  times  have  been  not  since  'the  light  that  led 
The  holy  Elders  with  the  gift  ^' of  myrrh. 
But  now  the  whole  Eound  Table  is  dissolved 
Which  was  an  image  of  the  mighty  world. 
And  I,  the  last,  go  forth  companionless. 
And  the  days  darken  round  me,  and  the  years. 
Among  new  men,  strange  faces,  other  minds/^ 

And  slowly  answet"'d  Arthur  from  the  barge: 
"The  old  order  changeth,  yielding  place  to  new. 
And  God  fulfills  himself  in  many  ways, 
Lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world. 
Comfort  thyself:  what  comfort  is  in  me? 
I  have  lived  my  life,  and  that  which  I  have  done 
May  He  within  himself  make  pure !  but  thou. 
If  thou  shouldst  never  see, my  face  again. 
Pray  for  my  soul.    More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of.    Wherefore,  let  thy  voice 
Else  like  a  fountain  for  me  night  and  day. 
For  what  are  men  better  than  sheep  or  goats 
That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain. 
If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer 
Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friend? 
For  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God. 
But  now  farewell.    I  am  going  a  long  way 
With  these  thou  seest — if  indeed  I  go 
(For  all  my  mind  is  clouded  with  a  doubt)  — 
To  the  island-valley  of  Avilion; 
Where  falls  not  hail,  or  rain,  or  any  snow. 
Nor  ever  wind  blows  loudly;  but  it  lies 
Deep-meadow'd,  happy,  fair  with  orchard  lawns 
And  bowery  hollows  crown'd  with  summer  sea. 
Where  I  will  heal  me  of  my  grievous  wound." 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        101 

uiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiriiiiiiiiinniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiniuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit 

III 

HOW  KINGS  AND  KNIOJITS  WENT  OVER  ALL  THE  WORLD  IN 
SEARCH  OF  ADVENTURf,  AND  FORGOT  THEIR  OWN  PEOPLE. 
AND  HOW  THE  ENGLISH  LORDS  WRESTED  FROM  A  CRUEL 
KING  A  GREAT  PARCHMENT  WHEREON  WERE  WRITTEN 
CERTAIN  WONDERFUL  THINGS.  AND  HOW.  AT  LAST,  EARL 
SIMON  BUILDED  APARLIAMEXT 

But  the  ideals  of  chivalry,  while  they  did  much  to  re- 
fine and  humanize  men,  were  only  individual.  The  knight 
wandered  through  all  countries  in  search  of  adventure. 
King  Richard  I,  "Richard  of  the 'Lion  Heart"  as  he  was 
called,  spent  little  time  in  England.  He  was  interested 
in  tournaments,  in  poetry,  in  hunting,  and  in  warfare. 
He  went  on  a  crusade,  near  the  end^  of  the  twelfth  century, 
to  attempt  to  rescue  the  Holy  Land  from  the  Turks.  On 
his  way  home,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Emperor  of 
Germany,  where  he  was  foiind  by  his  minstrel,  Blondel, 
who  sang  a  song  outside  thfe  prison  and  was  answered  by 
the  King. 

The  poet  Chaucer  tells  us  about  a  "very  perfect  gentle 
knight"  who  had  fought  in  many  countries,  heathen  and 
Christian.  He  possessed  the  cardinal  knightly  virtues  of 
truthfulness,  sense  of  honor,  generosity,  and  courtesy.  He 
had  fought  in  fifteen  great  battles,  in  Russia,  Africa,  Asia 
Minor,  and  Prussia,  and  had  won  high  praise.  Yet  he  was 
modest  and  unassuming,  deserving  of  the  respect  that  was 
shown  him  by  the  officers  drawn  from  various  nations,  who 
desired  him  to  sit  at  the  head  of  the  table. 

Other  knights  sought  strange  adventures  in  strange  lands 
— the  pursuit  of  monsters,  the  rescue  of  ladies  in  distress, 
the  combats  known  as  "tournaments,"  at  which  knights  in 


102  Builders  of  Democracy 

imiiiiiiNniniiiiiniirMMiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiniinniMHiuiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiimi 

mysterious  armor  jousted  for  victory — the  ''green  knight," 
the  "black  knight/'  the  ^^knight  with  the  lion."  And  some 
of  these  knights  became  famous  heroes  in  the  long  romances 
that  delighted  our  ancestors — Sir -Lancelot,  Sir  Galahad, 
Sir  Perceval,  Sir  Gawain. 

But  in  all  this  travel  in  seai:eh  of  adventure  there  was 
little  spirit  of  nationality^^' little  patriotism,  little  interest 
in  working  out  plans  by  which  large  numbers  of  people,  of 
every  trade  and  profession,  might  live  together.  The  knight 
had  no  country;  his  wa^  the  search  for  personal  distinc- 
tion. 

Eichard  of  the  Lion  Heart  thought  nothing  of  England 
except  as  a  source  from  which  he  might  get  money  for 
carrying  on  his  projects  in  foreign  lands.  King  John,  his 
successor,  thought  of  nothing  but  his  own  pleasure.  He 
was  cruel,  extravagant,  and  cowardly.  He  lost  the  Eng- 
lish possessions  in  France.  He  imprisoned  innocent  men, 
collected  high  taxes  from  the  poor,  seized  lands  to  which 
he  had  no  right. 

These  abuses  drove  the  people  to  rebellion.  The  loss  of 
their  estates  in  France  made  the  great  lords  regard  their 
English  possessions  more  highly.  Common  people  and 
nobles,  therefore,  began  to  look  for  a  way  to  lessen  their 
burdens.  Shakespeare  tells  a  part  of  the  story  in  a  drama, 
called  King  John.  He  shows  how  weak  and  cruel  the  king 
was.  He  shows,  too,  how  a  new  patriotism  was  springing 
up  in  England.  The  one  thing  needful  was  for  the  nobles 
to  cease  their  quarrels  and  to  unite  for  the  safety  of  Eng- 
land.   One  of  them  says : 

"This  England  never  did,  nor  never  shall, 
Lie  at  the  proud  foot  of  a  conqueror. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         103 

iniiiiiniiiMinNiiiuiiiiMiiiiuiiMuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiniiMiiiMiiiiiHiMiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiL 

But  when  it  first  did  help  to  wound  itself. 

Now  these  her  princes  are  come  home  again, 

Come  the  three  corners  of  the  world  in  arms, 

And  we  shall  shock  them.    Nought  shall  make  us  rue, 

If  England  to  itself  do  rest  but  true." 

So  the  lords  came  home  from  France,  defied  the  efforts  of 
the  French  king  to  add  England  to  his  domains,  and  turned 
their  attention  to  the  tyrant  John. 

With  this  in  mind,  let  us  look  upon  a  strange  and  won- 
derful picture.  It  is  a  day  in  June  in  the  year  1215,  more 
than  seven  hundred  years  ago.  We  are  near  the  river 
Thames.  On  one  side  are  the  fiel(Js  of  Runnymede,  filled 
with  the  great  barons  of  the  realm,  ^hile  in  the  background 
are  serfs  and  attendants,  yeomen  and  laborers,  a  field  full 
of  English  folk.  Across  the  river  are  the  soldiers  of  King 
John.  Midway  of  the  stream  is  an  island.  Here  the  King, 
with  a  few  attendants,  is  receiving  the  representatives  of 
the  barons.  A  long  scroll  of  parchment  is  presented  by  a 
baron  who  falls  on  his  knees  before  the  monarch.  King 
John  seems  to  read  the  writing;  in  reality  he  sees  nothing. 
It  is  a  bitter  day  for  him,  for  though  he  seems  to  sign 
the  parchment  graciously  enough,  and  with  a  smile,  in 
reality  he  is  helpless.  The  barons  have  him  in  their  power, 
and  the  parchment  he  signs  is  the  great  foundation  of  our 
liberties,  the  Magna  Charta. 

In  this  Charter  the  King  agreed  that,  "No  free  man  shall 
be  taken,  or  imprisoned,  or  dispossessed,  or  outlawed,  or 
banished,  or  in  any  way  destroyed,  nor  will  we  go  upon  him, 
nor  will  we  send  upon  him,  except  by  the  lawful  judgment 
of  his  peers,  and  by  the  law  of  the  land."  "To  no  one 
will  we  sell — to  no  one  will  we  deny — right  or  justice.'* 


104  Builders  of  Democracy 

>iirtiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iii iiiiiiiiiiiiii mil tiiiiii iniiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiimiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiNi 

It  was  also  provided  that  there  should '1)6  ift)  taxation 
without  the  consent  of  the  Great  Council.  You  will  remem- 
ber that  taxation  without  representation  was  the  chief  com- 
plaint of  the  American  colonies  against  the  policy  of  the 
British  government.  It  was  for  a  fight  guaranteed  to  Eng- 
lishmen since  the  Great  Charter  that  the  colonists  fought 
in  the  American  Eevolution. 

The  barons  who  compelled  King  John  to  sign  their  char- 
ter were  working  not  merely  for  their  own  benefit  but  for 
the  benefit  of  all  the  people  of  England.    They  were  Build- 

ers  of  Democracy, 

i 

The  building  process  goes  on  slowly.  It  seems  a  simple 
thing  to  us  that  the  people  of  a  city  like  Boston  or  Chicago 
should  have  the  right  to  send  representatives  to  Congress, 
or  that  a  man  who  saves  his  money  and  buys  a  house  or 
store  should  be  free  from  the  fear  that  the  government,  or 
some  official,  may  take  it  away  from  him.  We  take  these 
things  as  matters  of  course,  like  good  appetite  or  health. 
There's  nothing  wonderful  about  it  that  father  talks  poli- 
tics now  and  then  and  votes  for  some  one  or  other  for 
mayor,  or  governor,  or  president. 

But  we  should  keep  in  mind  two  things :  first,  that  these 
well-known  forms  of  self-government  have  grown  very 
slowly,  through  centuries;  and,  second,  that  our  American 
institutions  were  bom  and  had  their  earliest  development 
in  England. 

The  story  is  too  long  to  be  told  here.  How  Earl  Simon 
carried  on  the  reforms  suggested  by  the  Great  Charter,  so 
that,  as  a  poet  of  the  time  sang, 

"N"ow  England  breathes  in  the  hope  of  liberty"; 


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how  he  formed  a  real  Parliament,  in  1265,  composed  of 
representatives  of  the  towns  and  counties  as  well  as  of  the 
nobles;  the  merchant  and  the  trader  sitting  in  Parliament 
beside  the  knight  of  the  shire,  the  baron,  and  the  bishops, — 
these  were  stepping  stones  toward  our  American  Congress. 


IV 

HOW  BRAVE  MEN  ROSE  UP  IN  SCOTLAND  WITH  THE  FIRE 
OF  LIBERTY  BURNING  IN  THEIR  HEARTS.  AND  OF  THE 
BRAVE  DEEDS  OF  ROBERT  THE  BRUCE. 

These  beginnings  of  representative  government  applied 
only  to  England.  Scotland  was  not  represented  in  the  gov- 
ernment but  was  held  as  a  dependent  province ;  under  Wal- 
lace and  Bruce  she  strove  for  freedom.  How  men  fought, 
in  those  early  days  of  the  fourteenth  century,  for  free  gov- 
ernment, is  told  by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  BANNOCKBURN 

SIE  WALTER   SCOTT 
(1314) 

King  Edward  the  Second,  as  we  have  already  said,  was 
not  a  wise  and  brave  man  like  his  father,  but  a  foolish 
prince,  who  was  influenced  by  unworthy  favorites,  and 
thought  more  of  pleasure  than  of  governing  his  kingdom. 
His  father  Edward  the  First  would  have  entered  Scotland 
at  the  head  of  a  large  army,  before  he  had  left  Bruce  time 
to  conquer  back  so  much  of  the  country.  But  we  have  seen 
that,  very  fortunately  for  the  Scots,  that  wise  and  skilful, 
though  ambitious  King,  died  when  he  was  on  the  point  of 


106  Builders  of  Democracy 

jiiniiiiiMiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiitiiiiMinniiniiiriiiNiiriiiiinniniiiiiiiNiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiriiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini 

marching  into  Scotland.  His  son  Edward^IiacK  afterwards 
neglected  the  Scottish  war,  and  thus  lost  the  opportunity 
of  defeating  Bruce  when  his  force  was  small.  But  now 
when  Sir  Philip  Mowbray,  the  governor  of  Stirling,  came 
to  London,  to  tell  the  King  that  Stirling,  the  last  Scottish 
town  of  importance  which  remained  in  possession  of  the 
English,  was  to  be  surrendered  if  it  "^ere  not  relieved  by 
force  of  arms  before  midsummer,  then  all  the  English 
nobles  called  out,  it  would  be  a  sin  and  shame  to  permit  the 
fair  conquest  which  Edward  the  First  had  made  to  be  for- 
feited to  the  Scots  for  want  of  fighting.  It  was  therefore 
resolved  that  the  King  Should  go  himself  to  Scotland,  with 
as  great  forces  as  he  could  possibly  muster. 

King  Edward  the  Second,  therefore,  assembled  one  of  the 
greatest  armies  which  a  King  of  England  ever  commanded. 
There  were  troops  brought  from  all  his  dominions.  Many 
brave  soldiers  from  the  French  provinces  which  the  King  of 
England  possessed  in  France — many  Irish,  many  Welsh — 
and  all  the  great  English  nobles  and  barons,  with  their  fol- 
lowers, were  assembled  in  one  great  army.  The  number  was 
not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  men. 

King  Eobert  the  Bruce  summoned  all  his  nobles  and 
barons  to  join  him,  when  he  heard  of  the  great  preparations 
which  the  King  of  England  was  making.  They  were  not  so 
numerous  as  the  English  by  many  thousand  men.  In  fact, 
his  whole  army  did  not  very  much  exceed  thirty  thousand, 
and  they  were  much  worse  armed  than  the  wealthy  English- 
men; but  then,  Eobert,  who  was  at  their  head,  was  one  of 
the  most  expert  generals  of  the  time ;  and  the  officers  he  had 
under  him  were  his  brother  Edward,  his  nephew  Ean- 
dolph,  his  faithful  follower  the  Douglas,  and  other  brave 


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and  experieiiced  leaders,  who  commanded  the  same  men 
that  had  been  accifetomed  to  fight  and  gain  victories  under 
every  disadvantage  of  situation  and  numbers. 

The  King,  on  his  part,  studied  how  he  might  supply  by 
address  and  stratagem  •yth.dX  he  wanted  in  numbers  and 
strength.  He  knew  the  stperiority  of  the  English,  both  in 
their  heavy-armed  cavalry,  which  were  much  better  mounted 
and  armed  than  that  of  the  Scots,  and  in  their  archers,  who 
were  better  trained  than  any  others  in  the  world.  Both 
these  advantages  he  resolved  to  provide  against.  "With  this 
purpose,  he  led  his  army  down  into  a  plain  near  Stirling, 
called  the  Park,  near  which,  and  beneath  it,  the  English 
army  must  needs  pass  through  a  boggy  country,  broken  with 
water-courses,  while  the  Scots  occupied  hard  dry  ground. 
He  then  caused  all  the  ground  upon  the  front  of  his  line 
of  battle,  where  cavalry  were  likely  to  act,  to  be  dug  full  of 
holes  about  as  deep  as  a  man's  knee.  They  were  filled  with 
light  brushwood,  and  the  turf  was  laid  on  the  top,  so  that 
it  appeared  a  plain  field,  while  in  reality  it  was  all  full  of 
these  pits  as  a  honeycomb  is  of  holes.  He  also,  it  is  said, 
caused  steel  spikes,  called  calthrops,  to  be  scattered  up  and 
down  in  the  plain,  where  the  English  cavalry  were  most 
likely  to  advance,  trusting  in  that  manner  to  lame  and 
destroy  their  horses. 

When  the  Scottish  army  was  drawn  up,  the  line  stretched 
north  and  south.  On  the  south  it  was  terminated  by  the 
banks  of  the  brook  called  Bannockburn,  which  are  so  rocky 
that  no  troops  could  attack  them  there.  On  the  left,  the 
Scottish  line  extended  near  to  the  town  of  Stirling.  Bruce 
reviewed  his  troops  very  carefully;  all  the  useless  servants, 
drivers  of  carts,  and  such  like,  of  whom  there  were  very 


108  Builders  of  Democracy 

miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I iiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiii I niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

many,  he  ordered  to  go  behind  a  height^  -  afterwards,  in 
memory  of  the  event,  called  the  Gillies'  hill,  that  is,  the 
Servants'  hill.  He  then  spoke  to  the  soldiers,  and  expressed 
his  determination  to  gain  the  victory,  or  to  lose  his  life  on 
the  field  of  battle.  He  desired  that  all  those  who  did  not 
propose  to  fight  to  the  last  should  leave  the  field  before  the 
battle  began,  and  that  none  should  remain  except  those  who 
were  determined  to  take  the  issue  of  victory  or  death,  as 
God  should  send  it. 

When  the  main  body  of  his  army  was  thus  placed  in 
order,  the  King  posted  Eandolph,  with  a  body  of  horse,  near 
to  the  Church  of  St.  Njuian's,  commanding  him  to  use  the 
utmost  diligence  to  pravent  any  succors  from  being  thrown 
into  Stirling  Castle.  He  then  dispatched  James  of  Douglas 
and  Sir  Eobert  Keith,  the  Mareschal  of  the  Scottish  army, 
in  order  that  they  might  survey,  as  nearly  as  they  could, 
the  English  force,  which  was  now  approaching  from  Fal- 
kirk. They  returned  with  information  that  the  approach 
of  that  vast  host  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  terrible 
sights  which  could  be  seen — that  the  whole  country  seemed 
covered  with  men-at-arms  on  horse  aj^d  foot — that  the  num- 
ber of  standards,  banners,  and  pennons  (all  flags  of  differ- 
ent kinds)  made  so  gallant  a  show  that  the  bravest  and 
most  numerous  host  in  Christendom  might  be  alarmed  to 
see  King  Edward  moving  against  them. 

It  was  upon  the  twenty-third  of  June  (1314)  the  King 
of  Scotland  heard  the  news  that  the  English  army  were 
approaching  Stirling.  He  drew  out  his  army,  therefore,  in 
the  order  which  he  had  before  resolved  on.  After  a  short 
time  Bruce,  who  was  looking  out  anxiously  for  the  enemy, 
saw  a  body  of  English  cavalry  trying  to  get  into  Stirling 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        109 

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from  the  eastward.  This  was  the  Lord  Clifford,  who,  with 
a  chosen  body  of  eight  hundred  horse,  had  been  detached 
to  relieve  the  castle. 

"See,  Randolph,"  said  the  King  to  his  nephew,  "there 
is  a  rose  fallen  from  your  chaplet."  By  this  he  meant 
that  Randolph  had  lost  some  honor  by  suffering  the  enemy 
to  pass  where  he  had  been  stationed  to  hinder  them. 
Randolph  made  no  reply,  but  rushed  against  Clifford  with 
little  more  than  half  his  number.  The  Scots  were  on 
foot.  The  English  turned  to  charge  them  with  thair 
lances,  and  Randolph  drew  up  his  men  in  close  order  to 
receive  the  onset.  He  seemed  to  be  in  so  much  danger 
that  Douglas  asked  leave  of  the  King  to  go  and  assist  him. 
The  King  refused  him  permission.' 

"Let  Randolph,"  he  said,  "redeem  his  own  fault;  I  can- 
not break  the  order  of  battle  for  his  sake."  Still  the 
danger  appeared  greater,  and  the  English  horse  seemed 
entirely  to  encompass  the  small  handful  of  Scottish  in- 
fantry. "So  please  you,"  said  Douglas  to  the  King,  "my 
heart  will  not  suffer  me  to  stand  idle  and  see  Randolph 
perish — I  must  go  to  his  assistance."  He  rode  off  accord- 
ingly ;  but  long  before  they '  had  reached  the  place  of 
combat  they  saw  the  English  horses  galloping  off,  many 
with  empty  saddles. 

"Halt !"  said  Douglas  to  his  men,  "Randolph  has  gained 
the  day;  since  we  were  not  soon  enough  to  help  him  in 
the  battle  do  not  let  us  lessen  his  glory  by  approaching 
the  field."  Now  that  was  nobly  done;  especially  as  Doug- 
las and  Randolph  were  always  contending  which  should 
rise  highest  in  the  good  opinion  of  the  King  and  the 
nation. 


110  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiniiniwniiiniiiiiiiinMiiiiitiiiiiiMniiiiiiiiiiiiMiMiiNiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiuMiniiiiiniiMniiMiiiniiiiiiiiriiiiitiiiiniiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. 

The  van  of  the  English  army  now  cam^'in  sight,  and  a 
number  of  their  bravest  knights  drew  near  to  see  what  the 
Scots  were  doing.  They  saw  King  Robert  dressed  in  his 
armor  and  distinguished  by  a  gold  crown  which  he  wore 
over  his  helmet.  He  was  not  mounted  on  his  great  war- 
horse,  because  he  did  not  expect  to  fight  that  evening.  But 
he  rode  on  a  little  pony  up  and  down  the  ranks  of  his 
army,  putting  his  men  in  order,  and  carried  in  his  hand  a 
sort  of  battle-axe  made  of  steel.  When  the  King  saw  the 
English  horsemen  draw  near,  he  advanced  a  little  before 
his  own  men,  that  he  might  look  at  them  more  nearly. 

There  was  a  knight  among  the  English,  called  Sir 
Henry  de  Bohun,  who  thought  this  would  be  a  good  op- 
portunity to  gain  great  fame  to  himself,  and  put  an  end  to 
the  war,  by  killing  King  Robert.  The  King  being  poorly 
mounted,  and  having  no  lance,  Bohun  galloped  on  him 
suddenly  and  furiously,  thinking,  with  his  long  spear 
and  his  tall  powerful  horse,  easily  to  bear  him  down  to 
the  ground.  King  Robert  saw  him  and  permitted  him 
to  come  very  near,  then  suddenly  turned  his  pony  a  little 
to  one  side,  so  that  Sir  Henry  missed  him  with  the  lance- 
point  and  was  in  the  act  of  being  carried  past  him  by 
the  career  of  his  horse.  But  as  he  passed.  King  Robert 
rose  up  in  his  stirrups,  and  struck  Sir  Henry  on  the  head 
with  his  battle-axe  so  terrible  a  blow  that  it  broke  to 
pieces  his  iron  helmet  as  if  it  had  been  a  nut-shell  and 
hurled  him  from  his  saddle.  He  was  dead  before  he 
reached  the  ground.  This  gallant  action  was  blamed  by 
the  Scottish  leaders,  who  thought  Bruce  ought  not  to 
have  exposed  himself  to  so  much  danger  when  the  safety 
of  the  whole  army  depended  on  him.    The  King  only  kept 


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looking  at  his  weapon,  which  was  injured  by  the  force 
of  the  blow,  and  said,  '^I  have  broken  my  good  battle- 
axe/' 

The  next  morning,  being  the  twenty-fourth  of  June,  at 
break  of  day,  the  battle  began  in  terrible  earnest.  The 
English  as  they  advanced  saw  the  Scots  getting  into  line. 
The  Abbot  of  Inchaffray  walked  through  their  ranks  bare- 
footed, and  exhorted  them  to  fight  for  their  freedom.  They 
kneeled  down  as  he  passed,  and  prayed  to  Heaven  for  vic- 
ory.  King  Edward,  who  saw  this,  called  out,  "They  kneel 
down — they  are  asking  forgiveness."  "Yes,"  said  a  cele- 
brated English  baron,  called  Ingelram  de  Umphraville, 
'^ut  they  ask  it  from  God,  not  from  us — these  men  will 
conquer,  or  die  upon  the  field." 

The  English  King  ordered  his  men  to  begin  the  battle. 
The  archers  then  bent  their  bows,  and  began  to  shoot  so 
closely  together  that  the  arrows  fell  like  flakes  of  snow 
on  a  Christmas  day.  They  killed  many  of  the  Scots,  and 
might,  as  at  Falkirk,  and  other  places,  have  decided  the 
victory;  but  Bruce,  as  I  told  you  before,  was  prepared  for 
them.  He  had  in  readiness  a  body  of  men-at-arms,  well 
mounted,  who  rode  at  full  gallop  among  the  archers,  and 
as  they  had  no  weapons  save  their  bows  and  arrows,  which 
they  could  not  use  when  they  were  attacked  hand  to  hand, 
they  were  cut  down  in  great  numbers  by  the  Scottish 
horsemen,  and  thrown  into  total  confusion. 

The  fine  English  cavalry  then  advanced  to  support  their 
archers  and  to  attack  the  Scottish  line.  But  coming  over 
the  ground  which  was  dug  full  of  pits,  the  horses  fell  into 
these  holes,  and  the  riders  lay  tumbling  about,  without 
any  means  of  defence,  and  unable  to  rise  from  the  weight 


112  -      Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiniiiiiMiiinniiniMntiniMiiiiMiiiiiniiiiiiiiiunniiiniiiiiiiNiiiiMHiiiiiniiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin^ 

of  their  armor.  The  Englishmen  began  to  fall  into 
general  disorder;  and  the  Scottish  King,  bringing  up 
more  of  his  forces,  attacked  and  pressed  them  still  more 
closely. 

On  a  sudden,  while  the  battle  was  obstinately  main- 
tained on  both  sides,  an  event  happened  which  decided  the 
victory.  The  servants  and  attendants  on  the  Scottish 
camp  had,  as  I  told  you,  been  sent  behind  the  army  to  a 
place  afterwards  called  the  Gillies'  hill.  But  when  they 
saw  that  their  masters  were  likely  to  gain  the  day,  they 
rushed  from  their  place  of  concealment  with  such  weap- 
ons as  they  could  get,  that  they  might  have  their  share 
in  the  victory  and  in  the  spoil.  The  English,  seeing  them 
come  suddenly  over  the  hill,  mistook  this  disorderly  rab- 
ble for  a  new  army  coming  up  to  sustain  the  Scots,  and, 
losing  all  heart,  began  to  shift  every  man  for  him^self. 
Edward  himself  left  the  field  as  fast  as  he  could  ride.  A 
valiant  knight.  Sir  Giles  de  Argentine,  much  renowned  in 
the  wars  of  Palestine,  attended  the  King  till  he  got  him 
out  of  the  press  of  the  combat.  But  he  would  retreat  no 
farther.  "It  is  not  my  custom,"  he  said,  "to  fly."  With 
that  he  took  leave  of  the  King,  set  spurs  to  his  horse,  and 
calling  out  his  war-cry  of  Argentine !  Argentine !  he 
rushed  into  the  thickest  of  the  Scottish  ranks,  and  was 
killed. 

The  young  Earl  of  Gloucester  was  also  slain,  fighting 
valiantly.  The  Scots  would  have  saved  him,  but  as  he  had 
not  put  on  his  armorial  bearings,  they  did  not  know  him, 
and  he  was  cut  to  pieces. 

Edward  first  fled  to  'Sitirling  Castle,  and  entreated 
admittance;    but    Sir    Philip    Mowbray,    the    governor. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        113 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinuniiniuiiiiiniiiiniiiiMnuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iiiiii!;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

reminded  the  fugitive  Sovereign  that  he  was  obliged  to 
surrender  the  castle  next  day,  so  Edward  was  fain  to  fly 
through  the  Torwood,  closely  pursued  by  Douglas  with  a 
body  of  cavalry.  An  odd  circumstance  happened  during 
the  chase,  which  showed  how  loosely  some  of  the  Scot- 
tish barons  of  that  day  held  their  political  opinions.  As 
Douglas  was  riding  furiously  after  Edward,  he  met  a 
Scottish  knight,  Sir  Laurence  Abernethy,  with  twenty 
horse.  Sir  Laurence  had  hitherto  owned  the  English 
interest,  and  was  bringing  this  band  of  followers  to  serve 
King  Edward's  army.  But  learning  from  Douglas  that 
the  English  King  was  entirely  defeated,  he  changed  sides 
on  the  spot,  and  was  easily  prevailed  upon  to  join  Doug- 
las in  pursuing  the  unfortunate  Edward,  with  the  very  fol- 
lowers whom  he  had  been  leading  to  join  his  standard. 

Douglas  and  Abernethy  continued  the  chase,  not  giving 
King  Edward  time  to  alight  from  horseback  even  for  an 
instant,  and  followed  him  as  far  as  Dunbar,  where  the 
English  had  still  a  friend  in  the  governor,  Patrick  Earl 
of  March.  The  Earl  received  Edward  in  his  forlorn  con- 
dition, and  furnished  him  with  a  fishing  skiff,  or  small 
ship,  in  which  he  escaped  to "  England,  having  entirely 
lost  his  fine  army  and  a  great  number  of  his  bravest 
nobles. 

The  English  never  before  or  afterwards,  whether  in 
France  or  Scotland,  lost  so  dreadful  a  battle  as  that  of 
Bannockburn,  nor  did  the  Scots  ever  gain  one  of  the  same 
importance.  Many  of  the  best  and  bravest  of  the  English 
nobility  and  gentry,  as  I  have  said,  lay  dead  on  the  field; 
a  great  many  more  were  made  prisoners ;  and  the  whole  of 
King  Edward's  immense  army  was  dispersed  or  destroyed. 


114  Builders  of  Democracy 

ntiHiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiniMiiMiiiiiiMiunMuiMiiiiiiiMiiiiiiMiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiitiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiL 

The  English,  after  this  great  defeat,  were  no  longer  in 
a  condition  to  support  their  pretensions  to  be  masters  of 
Scotland,  or  to  continue,  as  they  had  done  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  to  send  armies  into  that  country  to  overcome 
it.  On  the  contrary,  they  became  for  a  time  scarce  able  to 
defend  their  own  frontiers  against  King  Robert  and  his 
goldiers. 

Thus  did  Robert  Bruce  arise  from  the  condition  of  an 
exile,  hunted  with  bloodhounds  like  a  stag  or  beast  of 
prey,  to  the  rank  of  an  independent  sovereign,  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  wisest  and  bravest  kings 
who  then  lived.  The  nation  of  Scotland  was  also  raised 
once  more  from  the  situation  of  a  distressed  and  con- 
quered province  to  that  of  a  free  and  independent  state, 
governed  by  its  own  laws,  and  subject  to  its  own  princes; 
and  although  the  country  was,  after  the  Bruce^s  death, 
often  subjected  to  great  loss  and  distress,  both  by  the 
hostility  of  the  English  and  by  the  unhappy  civil  wars 
among  the  Scots  themselves,  yet  they  never  afterwards 
lost  the  freedom  for  which  Wallace  had  laid  down  his  life, 
and  which  King  Robert  had  recovered,  not  less  by  his 
wisdom  than  by  his  weapons.  And  therefore  most  just 
it  is,  that  while  the  country  of  Scotland  retains  any  recol- 
lection of  its  history,  the  memory  of  those  brave  warriors 
and  faithful  patriots  should  be  remembered  with  honor 
and  gratitude. 


Robert  Burns,  who  lived  in  Scotland  at  the  time  of 
the  American  revolution,  was  a  poet  who  wrote  much  of 
liberty  and  of  the  rights  of  the  common  man.  So  he  was 
^eatly  interested  in  the  brave  deeds  of  his  ancestors  who 


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had  fought  under  Wallace  and  Bruce.     One  of  his  best 
poems  is  a  great  war  song  of  liberty,  called  Bannockburn. 

BANNOCKBURN 

ROBEBT  Bbuce's  Addbess  TO  His  Abmy 

Scots,  wha  hae  wi'  Wallace  bled, 
Scots,  wham  Bruce  has  aften  led; 
Welcome  to  your  gory  bed, 
Or  to  victory! 

Now's  the  day,  and  now's  the  hour; 
See  the  front  o'  battle  lour; 
See  approach  proud  Edward's  power — 
Chains  and  slavery! 

Wha  will  be  a  traitor  knaVe? 
Wha  can  fill  a  coward's  grave? 
Wha  sae  base  as  be  a  slave  ? 

Let  him  turn  and  flee ! 

Wha  for  Scotland's  king  and  law 
Freedom's  sword  will  strongly  draw, 
Freeman  stand,  or  Freeman  fa', 
Let  him  follow  me ! 

By  oppression's  woes  and  pains ! 
By  your  sons  in  servile  chains! 
We  will  drain  our  dearest  veins. 
But  they  shall  be  free! 

Lay  the  proud  usurpers  low! 
Tyrants  fall  in  every  foe! 
Liberty's  in  every  blow! — 
Let  us  do  or  die! 

These  men,  also,  were  Builders  of  Democracy. 


116  Builders  of  Democracy 

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HOW  NO  ONE  THOUGHT  OF  THE  POOR  MAN,  WHO  WAS  LITTLE 
BETTER  THAN  A  SLAVE.  OF  A  FAIR  FIELD  FULL  OF  FOLK, 
AND  WHAT  IT  SIGNIFIED.  AND  HOW  THE  PEASANTS  BE- 
LIEVED THEIR  YOUNG  KING,  AND  WERE  GRIEVOUSLY  DE- 
CEIVED BY  HIM,  SO  THAT  THEIR  BUILDING  WAS  SEEMINGLY 
OF  LITTLE  AVAIL. 


The  building  goes  forward  slowly.  Thus  far  we  have 
been  concerned  chiefly  with  the  deeds  of  the  nobles  and  the 
gentry.  The  knights  of  the  shire  and  the  burgesses  from 
the  cities  were  no  true  representatives  of  the  wretched 
laborers  who  had  no  land,  but  were  forced  to  work  as  slaves 
for  the  proprietors  of  estates.  In  the  fourteenth  century 
England  was  scourged  by  the  terrible  Black  Death.  More 
than  half  the  population  was  swept  away.  More  than 
fifty  thousand  corpses  were  buried  in  one  cemetery  in  Lon- 
don. In  Bristol  the  living  were  hardly  able  to  bury  their 
dead.  So  few  laborers  were  left  that  the  crops  could  not 
be  gathered,  and  "the  sheep  and  cattle  strayed  through  the 
fields  and  corn." 

Cruel  laws  were  passed,  compelling  every  man  and 
woman  who  had  no  land  "to  serve  the  employer  who  shall 
require  him  to  do  so."  No  one  was  permitted  to  leave  his 
parish  in  search  of  better  pay,  and  the  wages  were  the  mere 
pittances  paid  before  the  coming  of  the  Black  Death.  Grain 
was  so  scarce  and  cost  so  much  that  a  day's  labor  would  not 
purchase  enough  for  the  support  of  one  person. 

Once  more  we  look  upon  an  English  meadow,  "a  fair  field 
filled  with  folk."  But  in  this  picture  the  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance of  barons  and  king  are  wanting.  The  hero  of 
the  scene  is  a  poor  English  plowman.     We  learn  of  him 


1 


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through  a  vision  described  by  a  poet  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. On  a  May  morning,  he  tells  us,  he  fell  into  a  trance 
in  which  he  saw  a  great  concourse  of  people,  not  knights 
and  their  fair  ladies  alone,  not  kings  and  soldiers,  but  plow- 
men, who  played  little  and  toiled  much,  weavers  and  bond- 
men, pilgrims,  friars,  parish  priests,  minstrels,  and  beg- 
gars. Some  there  were  who  lived  only  for  pleasure,  cloth- 
ing themselves  in  rich  apparel.  Others  were  idle,  avoiding 
work,  while  still  others  worked  hopelessly  and  without  joy 
in  the  working.  Many  had  gone  on  pilgrimages  in  search 
of  forgiveness  for  their  sins. 

But  the  remarkable  thing  about  this  poet's  vision  of  the 
fair  field  full  of  folk  is  that  all  these  people  are  on  a  pil- 
grimage to  find  Saint  Truth.  They  ask  Piers  Plowman  if 
he  knows  where  Truth  may  be  found.  "Yes,"  he  says. 
"Wilt  thou  show  us  the  way  thither  ?"  "Yes,  when  I  have 
finished  my  plowing."  Thus  the  poet  praises  thrift  and 
industry,  and  rebukes  idleness  and  wandering.  He  warns 
the  knight  not  to  mistreat  the  poor  tenant,  for  perhaps  in 
heaven  the  poor  man  may  be  more  highly  rewarded  than  he 
who  lived  in  comfort  on  earth.  But  all  must  toil.  Hunger 
is  God's  instrument  to  make  men  industrious.  Labor  is 
honorable.    It  is  a  vision  of  the  Workers'  earth. 

The  scene  changes.  Unable  to  bear  their  slavery,  perse- 
cuted by  a  Parliament  more  cruel  than  the  king,  since  it  is 
an  assembly  of  land  owners  and  employers  who  wish  to 
keep  labor  in  subjection,— the  peasants  have  risen  against 
their  tyrants.  A  hundred  thousand  men  of  Kent,  led  by 
Wat  Tyler,  are  marching  on  London.  The  nobles  and  rich 
burghers  are  paralyzed  by  fear.     King  Richard  is  only  a 


118  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiuiMiiniiiiiiiiiiniiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuMiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiMiiHiniiHiiiiniiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim^^^^ 

boy,  but  he  meets  them  bravely.     A  great  historian,  John 
Richard  Green,  tells  us  what  went  on. 


THE  KING  AND  THE  PEASANTS 

JOHN  EICHARD  GREEN 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth,  therefore,  Richard 
rode  from  the  Tower  to  Mile-end  to  meet  the  Essex  men. 
"I  am  your  King  and  Lord,  good  people,"  the  boy  began 
with  a  fearlessness  which  marked  his  bearing  throughout 
the  crisis,  "What  will  you  ?"  "We  will  that  you  free  us  for- 
ever," shouted  the  peasants,  "us  and  our  lands ;  and  that  we 
be  never  named  nor  held  for  serfs !"  "I  grant  it,"  replied 
Richard;  and  he  bade  them  go  home,  pledging  himself  at 
once  to  issue  charters  of  freedom  and  amnesty.  A  shout 
of  joy  welcomed  the  promise.  Throughout  the  day  more 
than  thirty  clerks  were  busied  writing  letters  of  pardon  and 
emancipation,  and  with  these^  the  mass  of  the  Essex  men 
and  the  men  of  Hertfordshire  withdrew  quietlj  to  their 
homes. 

But  while  the  King  was  successful  at  Mile-end  a  terrible 
doom  had  fallen  on  the  counsellors  he  left  behind  him. 
Richard  had  hardly  quitted  the  Tower  when  the  Kentish- 
men  who  had  spent  the  night  within  the  city  appeared  at 
its  gates.  The  general  terror  was  shown  ludicrously  enough 
when  they  burst  in  and  taking  the  panic-stricken  knights 
of  the  royal  household  in  rough  horseplay  by  the  beard, 
promised  to  be  their  equals  and  good  comrades  in  the  days 
to  come.  But  the  horseplay  changed  into  dreadful  earn- 
est when  they  found  that  Richard  had  escaped  their  grasp, 
and  the  discovery  of  Archbishop  Sudbury  and  other  minis- 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         119 

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ters  in  the  chapel  changed  their  fury  into  a  cry  for  blood. 
The  Primate  was  dragged  from  his  sanctuary  and  beheaded. 
The  same  vengeance  was  wreaked  on  the  Treasurer  and  the 
Chief  Commissioner  for  the  levy  of  the  hated  poll-tax,  the 
merchant  Richard  Lyons,  who  had  been  impeached  by  the 
Good  Parliament. 

Richard  meanwhile  had  ridden  round  the  northern  wall 
of  the  city  to  the  Wardrobe  near  Blackfriars,  and  from  this 
new  refuge  he  opened  his  negotiations  with  the  Kentish 
insurgents.  Many  of  these  dispersed  at  the  news  of  the 
King's  pledge  to  the  men  of  Essex,  but  a  body  of  thirty 
thousand  still  surrounded  Wat  Tyler  when  Richard  on  the 
morning  of  the  fifteenth  encountered  that  leader  by  a 
mere  chance  at  Smithfield.  Hot  words  passed  between  his 
train  and  the  peasant  chieftain,  who  advanced  to  confer 
with  the  King,  and  a  threat  from  Tyler  brought  on  a  brief 
struggle  in  which  the  Mayor  of  London,  William  Walworth, 
struck  him  with  his  dagger  to  the  ground.  "Kill !  Kill !'' 
shouted  the  crowd,  "they  have  slain  our  captain !"  But 
Richard  faced  the  Kentishmen  with  the  same  cool  courage 
with  which  he  faced  the  men  of  Essex.  "What  need  ye, 
my  masters!"  cried  the  boy-king  as  he  rode  boldly  up  to 
the  front  of  the  bowmen.  "I  am  your  Captain  and  your 
King;  follow  me!" 

The  hopes  of  the  peasants  centered  in  the  young  sover- 
eign ;  one  aim  of  their  rising  had  been  to  free  him  from  the 
evil  counsellors  who,  as  they  believed,  abused  his  youth ;  and 
at  his  word  they  followed  him  with  a  touching  loyalty  and 
trust  till  he  entered  the  Tower.  His  mother  welcomed  him 
within  its  walls  with  tears  of  joy.  "Rejoice  and  praise 
God,"  Richard  answered,  "for  I  have  recovered  today  my 


120  Builders  of  Democracy 

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heritage  which  was  lost  and  the  realm  of  England !"  But 
he  was  compelled  to  give  the  same  pledge  of  freedom  to  the 
Kentishmen  as  at  Mile-end,  and  it  was  only  after  receiving 
his  letters  of  pardon  and  emancipation  that  the  yeomen  dis- 
persed to  their  homes. 


THE  PEASANTS  AND  THEIR  KING 

JOHN   RICHAED    GREEN 

A  scene  less  violent,  but  even  more  picturesque,  went  on 
the  same  day  at  St.  Alban's.  William  Grindecobbe,  the 
leader  of  its  townsmen,  returned  with  one  of  the  charters 
of  emancipation  which  Eichard  had  granted  after  his  inter- 
view at  Mile-end  to  the  men  of  Essex  and  Hertfordshire, 
and  breaking  into  the  abbey  precincts  at  the  head  of  the 
burghers,  forced  the  abbot  to  deliver  up  the  charters  which 
bound  the  town  in  bondage  to  his  house.  But  a  more  strik- 
ing proof  of  servitude  than  any  charters  could  give 
remained  in  the  mill-stones  which  after  a  long  suit  at  law 
had  been  adjudged  to  the  abbey  and  placed  within  its 
cloister  as  a  triumphant  witness  that  no  townsman  might 
grind  corn  within  the  domain  of  the  abbey  save  at  the  ab- 
bot's mill.  Bursting  into  the  cloister,  the  burghers  now  tore 
the  mill-stones  from  the  floor,  and  broke  them  into  small 
pieces,  "like  blessed  bread  in  church,"  which  each  might 
carry  off  to  show  something  of  the  day  when  their  freedom 
was  won  again. 

But  it  was  hardly  won  when  it  was  lost  anew.  The  quiet 
withdrawal  and  dispersion  of  the  peasant  armies  with  their 
charters  of  emancipation  gave  courage  to  the  nobles.  Their 
panic  passed  away.     The  warlike  Bishop  of  Norwich  fell 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         121 

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lance  in  hand  on  Litster's  camp,  and  scattered  the  peasants 
of  Norfolk  at  the  first  shock.  Kichard  with  an  army  of 
forty  thousand  men  marched  in  triumph  through  Kent  and 
Essex,  and  spread  terror  by  the  ruthlessness  of  his  execu- 
tions. At  Waltham  he  was  met  by  the  display  of  his  own 
recent  charters  and  a  protest  from  the  Essex  men  that 
"they  were  so  far  as  freedom  went  the  peers  of  their  lords." 
But  they  were  to  leam  the  worth  of  a  king's  word.  "Vil- 
leins you  were/'  answered  Richard,  "and  villeins  you  are. 
In  bondage  you  shall  abide,  and  that  not  your  old  bondage, 
but  a  worse!" 

The  stubborn  resistance  which  he  met  showed  that  the 
temper  of  the  people  was  not  easily  broken.  The  villagers 
of  Billericay  threw  themselves  into  the  woods  and  fought 
two  hard  fights  before  they  were  reduced  to  submission.  It 
was  only  by  threats  of  death  that  verdicts  of  guilty  could 
be  wrung  from  Essex  jurors  when  the  leaders  of  the  revolt 
were  brought  before  them.  Grindecobbe  was  offered  his 
life  if  he  would  persuade  his  followers  at  St.  Alban's  to 
restore  the  charters  they  had  wrung  from  the  monks.  He 
turned  bravely  to  his  fellow-townsmen  and  bade  them  take 
no  thought  for  his  trouble.  "I£  I  die,"  he  said,  "I  shall  die 
for  the  cause  of  the  freedom  we  have  won,  counting  myself 
happy  to  end  my  life  by  such  a  martyrdom.  Do  then  today 
as  you  would  have  done  had  I  been  killed  yesterday."  But 
repression  went  pitilessly  on,  and  through  the  summer  and 
the  autumn  seven  thousand  men  are  said  to  have  perished 
on  the  gallows  or  the  field. 

These,  also,  were  Builders  of  Democracy. 


122  Builders  of  Democracy 

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VI 

HOW  A  NEW  WORLD  WAS  DISCOVERED  ACROSS  THE  WESTERN 
SEAS.  HOW  BRAVE  MEN  SAILED  TO  SPY  OUT  THE  LAND, 
AND  WHAT  THEY  FOUND.  AND  HOW  A  WICKED  KING 
DREAMED  OF  A  WORLD  EMPIRE  WITH  ALL  MEN  HIS  SUB- 
JECTS. AND  OF  HIS  GREAT  FLEET  WHICH  WAS  DESTROYED 
AS  BEOWULF  DESTROYED  THE  SEA  MONSTER.  IN  SUCH 
WISE  THE  ENGLISH  BECAME  WARRIORS  OF  THE  SEA. 

Once  more  the  scene  changes.  A  new  world  is  discov- 
ered. In  1492  Columbus  sails  into  the  Western  Ocean,  far 
beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  beyond  the  place  where  the 
ancients  believed  the  Gardens  of  the  Hesperides  lay  with 
their  enchanted  paradise,  to  a  land  that  promised  gold  and 
adventure  in  plenty.  The  Greeks  had  legends  that  hinted 
of  such  a  land.  In  a  poem  about  Ulysses,  Alfred  Tenny- 
son imagines  the  old  hero  dreaming  of  such  a  land,  and 
gives  to  him  the  courage  and  longing  for  adventure  that  one 
day  was  to  guide  Columbus. 


ULYSSES 

ALFRED,  LORD  TENNYSON 

It  little  profits  that  an  idle  king. 

By  this  still  hearth,  among  these  barren  crags, 

Match'd  with  an  aged  wife,  I  mete  and  dole 

Unequal  laws  unto  a  savage  race. 

That  hoard,  and  sleep,  and  feed,  and  know  not  me. 

I  cannot  rest  from  travel ;  I  will  drink 

Life  to  the  lees.    All  times  I  have  enjoy'd 

Greatly,  have  suffer'd  greatly,  both  with  those 

That  loved  me,  and  alone ;  on  shore,  and  when 

Thro'  scudding  drifts  the  rainy  Hyades 

Vext  the  dim  sea.    I  am  become  a  name : 


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For  always  roaming  with  a  hungry  heart 
Much  have  I  seen  and  known, — cities  of  men 
And  manners,  climates,  councils,  governments. 
Myself  not  least,  but  honored  of  them  all, — 
And  drunk  delight  of  battle  with  my  peers. 
Far  on  the  ringing  plains  of  windy  Troy. 
I  am  a  part  of  all  that  I  have  met ; 
Yet  all  experience  is  an  arch  wherethro' 
Gleams  that  untravelFd  world  whose  margin  fades 
For  ever  and  for  ever  when  I  move. 
How  dull  it  is  to  pause,  to  make  an  end, 
To  rust  unburnish'd,  not  to  shine  in  use ! 
As  tho'  to  breathe  were  life !   Life  piled  on  life 
Were  all  too  little,  and  of  one  to  me 
Little  remains ;  but  every  hour  is  saved 
From  that  eternal  silence,  something  more, 
.  A  bringer  of  new  things :  and  vile  it  were 
For  some  three  suns  to  store 'and  hoard  myself. 
And  this  gray  spirit  yearning  in  desire 
To  follow  knowledge  like  a  sinking  star. 
Beyond  the  utmost  bound  of  human  thought. 

This  is  my  son,  mine  own  Telemachus, 
To  whom  I  leave  the  scepter  and  the  isle, — 
Well-loved  of  me,  discerning  to  fulfil 
This  labor,  by  slow  prudence  to  make  mild 
A  rugged  people,  and  thro'  soft  degrees 
Subdue  them  to  the  useful  and  the  good. 
Most  blameless  is  he,  centered  in  the  sphere 
Of  common  duties,  decent  not  to  fail 
In  offices  of  tenderness,  and  pay 
Meet  adoration  to  my  household  gods. 
When  I  am  gone.    He  works  his  work,  I  mine. 

There  lies  the  port ;  the  vessel  puffs  her  sail ; 
There  gloom  the  dark,  broad  seas.    My  mariners. 
Souls  that  have  toil'd,  and  wrought,  and  thought  with 
me, — 


124  Builders  of  Democracy 

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That  ever  with  a  frolic  welcome  took 

The  thunder  and  the  sunshine,  and  opposed 

Free  hearts,  free  foreheads, — you»  and  I  are  old ; 

Old  age  hath  yet  his  honor  and  his  toil. 

Death  closes  all ;  but  something  ere  the  end, 

Some  work  of  noble  note,  may  yet  be  done, 

Not  unbecoming  men  that  strove  with  Gods. 

The  lights  begin  to  twinkle  from  the  rocks ; 

The  long  day  wanes ;  the  slow  moon  climbs ;  the  deep 

Moans  round  with  many  voices.    Come,  my  friends, 

'Tis  not  too  late  to  seek  a  newer  world. 

Push  off,  and  sitting  well  in  order  smite 

The  sounding  furrows ;  for  my  purpose  holds 

To  sail  beyond  the  sunset,  and  the  baths 

Of  all  the  western  stars,  until  I  die. 

It  may  be  that  the  gulfs  will  wash  us  down ; 

It  may  be  we  shall  touch  the  Happy  Isles, 

And  see  the  great  Achilles,  whom  we  knew. 

Tho'  much  is  taken,  much  abides ;  and  tho' 

We  are  not  now  that  strength  which  in  old  days 

Moved  earth  and  heaven,  that  which  we  are,  we  are, — 

One  equal  temper  of  heroic  hearts. 

Made  weak  by  time  and  fate,  but  strong  in  will 

To  strive,  to  seek,  to  find,  and  not  to  yield. 


In  this  spirit  Columbus,  not  old  but  filled  with  the  en- 
thusiasm of  youth,  sailed  beyond  the  Azores  into  the  dread 
sea  whose  mysteries  civilized  man  had  never  explored. 
An  American  poet,  Joaquin  Miller,  tells  the  story  in  such 
a  way  as  to  show  the  courage  of  the  great  discoverer  and 
to  bring  out  what  he  calls  "the  grandest  lesson"  the  New 
World  has  to  teach  mankind. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        125 

iiiiiiinnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniMiiMiiiiMHiiiininiiiniMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiuiiu 

COLUMBUS 

JOAQUIN  MILLER 

Behind  him  lay  the  gray  Azores, 

Behind  the  gates  of  Hercules ; 
Before  him  not  the  ghost  of  shores, 

Before  him  only  shoreless  seas. 
The  good  mate  said :  "Now  must  we  pray, 

For,  lo !  the  very  stars  are  gone. 
Brave  Adm'r'l,  speak,  what  shall  I  say?" 

"Why,  say,  *Sail  on !  sail  on !  and  on  !'  " 

"My  men  grow  mutinous  day  by  day ; 

My  men  grow  ghastly  wan  and  weak." 
The  stout  mate  thought  of  home ;  a  spray 

Of  salt  wave  washed  his  swarthy  cheek. 
"What  shall  I  say,  brave  Adm'r'l,  say. 

If  we  sight  naught  but  seas  at  da^vn  ?" 
"Why,  you  shall  say,  at  break  of  day, 

'Sail  on !  sail  on !  sail  on !  and  on !' " 

They  sailed  and  sailed  as  winds  might  blow. 

Until  at  last  the  blanched  mate  said : 
'^hy,  now  not  even  God  would  know 

Should  I  and  all  my  men  fall  dead. 
These  very  winds  forget  their  way. 

For  God  from  these  dread  seas  is  gone. 
Now  speak,  brave  Adm'r'l^  speak  and  say — " 

He  said,  "Sail  on !  sail  on !  and  on !"  " 

They  sailed.    They  sailed.    Then  spake  the  mate ; 

"This  mad  sea  shows  his  teeth  tonight; 
He  curls  his  lips,  he  lies  in  wait 

With  lifted  teeth,  as  if  to  bite! 
Brave  Adm'r'l,  say  but  one  good  word ; 

What  shall  we  do  when  hope  is  gone?'' 
The  words  leapt  like  a  leaping  sword: 

"Sail  on !  sail  on !  sail  on !  and  on !" 


126  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiHnwiiiriiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiniMiiiiiMiiiiiMiMinMiniiiiiiiMiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

Then,  pale  and  worn,  he  kept  his  deck 

And  peered  through  darkness.    Ah,  that  night 
Of  all  dark  nights !    And  then  a  speck — 

Alight!   Alight!   Alight!  Alight! 
It  grew,  a  starlit  flag  unfurled ! 

It  grew  to  be  Time's  burst  of  dawn. 
He  gained  a  world ;  he  gave  that  world 

Its  grandest  lesson :  "On  !  sail  on !" 


In  the  sixteenth  century  the  New  World  became  indeed 
an  enchanted  garden,  bringing  evil  and  good  to  men.  Philip 
of  Spain  built  a  mighty  empire  on  the  blood  of  the  natives 
of  South  American  countries.  His  frightful  cruelties  in 
Mexico  and  Peru  developed  from  a  lust  of  gold  and  power 
that  made  him  the  greatest  peril  to  freedom  that  Europe 
had  ever  seen.  England,  slower  to  act,  found  new  fishing 
grounds,  sought  a  short  route  to  the  Indies,  caught  the 
vision  at  last  of  the  new  England  beyond  the  seas.  For 
more  than  four  hundred  years  America,  in  one  way  or 
another,  has  had  a  profound  influence  on  Europe. 

So  new  sea-lanes  are  opened  across  the  Western  Ocean. 
Columbus  and  the  Cabots  are  followed  by  many  others. 
Treasure  ships  filled  with  wealth  of  kings  brave  the  storms. 
As  they  near  the  Azores  great  galleons  meet  them  to  con- 
voy them  safe  to  harbor.  Philip  of  Spain  has  vast  ambi- 
tions. Cortes  and  Pizarro  have  conquered  for  him  Mexico 
and  Peru,  strange  new  lands  whence  come  gold  and  silver 
and  jewels.  Besides  the  Spanish  realm,  Philip  also  rules 
a  large  part  of  Italy,  rich  and  productive  lands.  He  rules 
the  Low  Countries — Europe's  manufacturing  centers  in 
Flanders,  and  Antwerp,  the  greatest  commercial  port  of 
the  world.    He  has  a  great  and  formidable  navy,  and  the 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        127 

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best  trained  army  in  Europe.  He  is  an  absolute  ruler,  mak- 
ing war  at  his  own  pleasure,  working  out  steadily  a  great 
scheme  of  conquest  that  was  to  make  the  Spanish  Empire 
dominate  all  Mid-Europe,  to  impose  the  Spanish  Kultur 
upon  all  nations,  to  put  down  forever  the  spirit  of  free 
inquiry  and  free  thought  characteristic  especially  of 
France  and  England. 

His  policy  is  Frightfulness.  Through  the  Inquisition, 
a  court  of  injustice  and  torture,  he  finds  an  instrument 
which  the  Philip  of  our  time  has  found  in. the  submarine 
and  the  Zeppelin.  He  boasts  of  his  alliance  with  God. 
He  would  reduce  the  remainder  of  Italy  to  submission, 
would  command  all  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  would 
crush  Protestantism  in  Germany  and  in  France,  would 
above  all  crush  England,  the  deadly  enemy,  then  as  now, 
of  absolute  tyranny.  A  monstrous  egotism,  a  cold-blooded 
cruelty,  a  vast  hunger  for  power  and  dominion  malce 
him  one  of  those  incarnations  of  evil  that  from  time  to 
time  come  ujx)n  mankind  like  a  fearful  tornado,  a  deadly 
flame  as  from  the  dragon  against  which  Beowulf  fought. 
Only  once  more,  in  all  the  history  of  the  world,  has  the 
ugly  fiend  of  tyranny  gathered  so  much  dreadful  power 
for  assault  on  the  slowly  developed  spirit  of  free  govern- 
ment. Then,  as  in  this  later  time,  free  England  was  the 
great  champion,  the  Beowulf  of  the  vast  struggle. 

For  the  sea-ways,  as  the  sixteenth  century  is  growing  old, 
see  other  ships  than  Spanish  galleons.  In  1576  Martin 
Frobisher  explores  the  coast  of  Labrador.  Tho  "sea-dogs" 
of  Devon  harry  the  Spanish  ships  and  take  their  treasure. 
In  1577  Francis  Drake  sails  away  in  a  little  ship  on  one  of 


128  Builders  of  Democracy 

viriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiniiiii I iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitii 

the  most  daring  ventures  recorded  in  history.  One  ship 
and  eighty  men^  but  what  a  voyage !  Through  the  Straits 
of  Magellan  he  sails^  up  the  coast  of  Chili  and  Peru,  where 
he  loads  his  frail  bark  with  gold  dust  and  ingots  of  silver, 
with  pearls,  emeralds,  and  diamonds,  and  then  bravely 
away  across  a  new  sea  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  in 
three  years,  after  a  voyage  around  the  globe,  drops  anchor 
in  English  Plymouth.  Humphrey  Gilbert  in  1578  receives 
a  patent  for  colonizing  "any  remote  barbarous  and  heathen 
lands  not  possessed  by  any  Christian  prince  or  people,"  and 
from  1584  to  1589  Walter  Ealeigh  makes  several  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  establish  English  colonies  in  North 
Carolina.  These  men  are  heroes  of  a  new  chivalry,  knights 
errant  of  the  sea.  They  war  on  Philip's  treasure  ships. 
They  bring  back  thrilling  stories  about  strange  lands  and 
peoples.  Every  fireside  in  England  delights  in  these 
stories  of  adventure;  Beowulf  and  King  Arthur's  knights 
are  forgotten  in  the  light  shining  from  these  new  stars  in 
the*  firmament. 

England  at  peace,  well  governed,  prosperous.  Oppor- 
tunities for  advancement, — a  shoemaker  may  become  Lord 
Mayor  of  London.  A  sense  of  national  unity  never  before 
experienced.  Freedom  of  thought  stimulated  by  an  enor- 
mous increase  in  printing;  a  great  new  literature,  and  a 
drama  that  set  before  the  people  the  past  history  of  the 
nation. 

You  are  in  an  Elizabethan  theater  where  one  of  these 
history  plays,  by  "William  Shakespeare,  is  being  presented. 
All  around  are  the  English  folk,  whom  you  saw  at 
Eunn)rmede  or  in  Piers  Plowman's  Vision, — knights  and 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         129 

iiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiniiunmiiiiiiiH 

fair  ladies,  weavers,  tradesmen,  travelers  in  strange  cos- 
tumes brought  from  Italy,  poets  and  musicians,  university 
students  and  lawyers  from  the  Inns  of  Court.  And  you  see 
on  the  stage  an  old  man  who  is  dying.  It  is  John  of  Gaunt, 
telling  his  vision  of  the  England  that  was  unknown  in 
his  time,  but  which  you  know  has  come  into  being  in  these 
happy  days  under  Good  Queen  Bess. 

And  your  heart  beats  fast  as  you  listen  to  those  glori- 
ous words,  and  when  the  old  man  has  finished  and  sinks 
back  upon  his  couch  to  die,  your  cheers  ring  out  with  those 
of  your  neighbors,  in  praise  of  England : 

"This  royal  throne  of  kings,  this  scepter'd  isle. 

This  earth  of  majesty,  this  seat  of  Mars, 

This  other  Eden,  demi-paradise. 

This  fortress  built  by  Nature  for  herself 

Against  infection  and  the  hand  of  War, 

This  happy  breed  of  men,  this  little  world. 

This  precious  stone  set  in  the  silver  sea. 

Which  serves  it  in  the  office  of  a  wall 

Or  as  a  moat  defensive  to  a  house. 

Against  the  envy  of  less  happier  lands, 

This  blessed  plot,  this  earth,  this  realm,  this  England  !" 

Once  more  the  scene  changes.  Philip  is  more  powerful 
now.  Since  1580  the  realm  of  Portugal  has  been  added 
to  his  vast  domain.  A  navy  almost  as  large  as  his  own 
has  been  gained ;  a  vast  colonial  empire  in  Africa,  in  India, 
and  among  the  Islands  of  the  South  Seas.  Thus  far,  only 
the  little  provinces  of  the  Netherlands,  strangely  antici- 
pating the  heroic  Belgium  of  1914,  have  dared  to  brave  the 
terror  of  the  monster.  The  cruel  butcher  Alva  tortured 
and  murdered  their  bodies,  but  to  conquer  their  souls  was 


130  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiitiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil 

as  impossible  for  him  as  for  his  successor  of  the  twentieth 
century. 

Slowly  the  stage  is  set  for  a  gigantic  drama.  England  is 
to  be  drawn  in.  Philip  sees  in  that  free  country  his  chief 
antagonist.  Ealeigh,  the  shepherd  of  the  Ocean,  and  his  con- 
temporaries promise  to  dispute  Philip's  dominion  in  the  Xew 
World,  and  they  are  gaining  the  skill  in  sea-warfare  that  in 
time  is  to  make  England  mistress  of  the  seas.  Leicester 
and  Sidney  lead  an  English  expedition  to  the  succor  of  the 
hard-pressed  Low  countries.  Mary  of  Scotland,  the  unhappy 
Queen  whom  Philip  had  used  in  his  attempts  to  remove 
Elizabeth  and  so  get  England  under  his  control,  is  executed 
in  1587.  At  last  Philip  must  try  his  strength  against  Eng- 
land. The  Great  Armada  is  prepared  to  execute  his  will. 
Here  is  the  story,  as  the  historian  John  Eichard  Green 
tells  it. 


THE  DEFEAT  OF  THE  ARMADA 

JOHN   EICHARD   GREEN 

As  the  Armada  sailed  on  in  a  broad  crescent  past  Ply- 
mouth, the  vessels  which  had  gathered  under  Lord  Howard 
of  Effingham  slipped  out  of  the  bay  and  hung  with  the  wind 
upon  their  rear.  In  numbers  the  two  forces  were  strangely 
unequal,  for  the  English  fleet  counted  only  eighty  vessels 
against  one  hundred  and  thirty-two,  which  composed  the 
Armada.  In  size  of  ships  the  disproportion  was  even 
greater.  Fifty  of  the  English  vessels,  including  the 
squadron  of  the  Lord  Admiral  and  the  craft  of  the  volun- 
teers, were  little  bigger  than  yachts  of  the  present  day.  Even 
of  the  thirty  Queen's  ships  which  formed  its  main  body, 
there  were  but  four  which  equaled  in  tonnage  the  smallest 


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tiiiiiiiii iiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiniiiriiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil 

of  the  Spanish  galleons.  Sixty-five  of  these  galleons  formed 
the  most  formidable  half  of  the  Spanish  fleet;  and  four 
galleasses,  or  gigantic  galleys,  armed  with  fifty  guns  apiece, 
fifty-six  armed  merchantmen,  and  twenty  pinnaces  made  up 
the  rest.  The  Armada  was  provided  with  2,500  cannons, 
and  a  vast  store  of  provisions ;  it  had  on  board  8,000  seamen 
and  more  than  20,000  soldiers ;  and  if  a  court-favorite,  the 
Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  had  been  placed  at  its  head,  he 
was  supported  by  the  ablest  staff  of  naval  ofiicers  which 
Spain  possessed. 

Small,  however,  as  the  English  ships  were,  they  were  in 
perfect  trim;  they  sailed  two  feet  for  the  Spaniards'  one, 
they  were  manned  with  9,000  hardy  seamen,  and  their 
Admiral  was  backed  by  a  crowd  of  captains  who  had  won 
fame  in  the  Spanish  seas.  With  him  was  Hawkins,  who 
had  been  the  first  to  break  into  the  charmed  circle  of  the 
Indies ;  Frobisher,  the  hero  of  the  North- West  passage ;  and 
above  all  Drake,  who  held  command  of  the  privateers.  They 
had  won  too  the  advantage  of  the  wind ;  and,  closing  in  or 
drawing  off  as  they  would,  the  lightly-handled  English 
vessels,  which  fired  four  shots  to  the  Spaniards'  one,  hung 
boldly  on  the  rear  of  the  great  fleet  as  it  moved  along  the 
Channel.  "The  feathers  of  the  Spaniard,"  in  the  phrase 
of  the  English  seamen,  were  "plucked  one  by  one."  Gal- 
leon after  galleon  was  sunk,  boarded,  driven  on  shore ;  and 
yet  ^ledina  Sidonia  failed  in  bringing  his  pursuers  to  a 
close  engagement.  Now  halting,  now  moving  slowly  on, 
the  running  light  between  the  two  fleets  lasted  throughout 
the  week,  till  on  Sunday,  the  twenty-eighth  of  July,  the 
Armada  dropped  anchor  in  Calais  roads.  The  time  had 
come  for  sharper  work  if  the  junction  of  the  Armada  with 


132  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiitiiiiitiiiiiiiiitiiiriiriitiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiirpiriiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirtMiiiiiiiHiiiii 

Parma  was  to  be  prevented;  for,  demoralized  as  the  Span- 
iards had  been  by  the  merciless  chase,  their  loss  in  ships 
had  not  been  great,  and  their  appearance  off  Dunkirk 
might  drive  off  the  ships  of  the  Hollanders  who  hindered 
ihe  sailing  of  the  Duke. 

On  the  other  hand^  though  the  numbers  of  English  ships 
had  grown,  their  supplies  of  food  and  ammunition  were  fast 
running  out.  Howard  therefore  resolved  to  force  an 
engagement;  and,  lighting  eight  iire  ships  at  midnight, 
sent  them  down  with  the  tide  upon  the  Spanish  line.  The 
galleons  at  once  cut  their  cables,  and  stood  out  in  panic  to 
sea,  drifting  with  the  wind  in  a  long  line  off  Gravelines. 
Drake  resolved  at  all  costs  to  prevent  their  return.  At  dawn 
on  the  twenty-ninth  the  English  ships  closed  fairly  in,  and 
almost  their  last  cartridge  was  spent  ere  the  sun  went  down. 

Hard  as  the  fight  had  been,  it  seemed  far  from  a 
decisive  one.  Three  great  galleons  indeed  had  sunk  in  the 
engagement,  three  had  drifted  helplessly  on  to  the  Flemish 
coast,  but  the  bulk  of  the  Spanish  vessels  remained,  and  even 
to  Drake  the  fleet  seemed  "wonderful  great  and  strong." 
Within  the  Armada  itself,  however,  all  hope  was  gone. 
Huddled  together  by  the  wind  and  the  deadly  English  fire, 
their  aails  torn,  their  masts  shot  away,  the  crowded  gal- 
leons had  become  mere  slaughter-houses.  Four  thousand 
men  had  fallen,  and  bravely  as  the  seamen  fought,  they 
were  cowed  by  the  terrible  butchery.  Medina  himself  was 
in  despair.  "We  are  lost,  Senor  Oquenda,"  he  cried  to  his 
bravest  captain;  "what  are  we  to  do?'^  "Let  others  talk 
of  being  lost,"  replied  Oquenda,  "your  Excellency  has  only 
to  order  up  fresh  cartridge."  But  Oquenda  stood  alone, 
and  a  council  of  war  resolved  on  retreat  to  Spain  by  the 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         133 

NiiniuiiiMuniiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiMiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiniiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

one  course  open,  that  of  a  circuit  round  the  Orkneys. 
"Never  anything  pleased  me  better,"  wrote  Drake,  "than 
seeing  the  enemy  fly  with  a  southerly  wind  to  the  north- 
wards. Have  a  good  eye  to  the  Prince  of  Parma,  for,  with 
the  grace  of  God,  I  doubt  not  ere  it  be  long  so  to  handle  the 
matter  with  the  Duke  of  Sidonia,  as  he  shall  wish  himself 
at  St.  Mary  Port  among  his  orange  trees." 

But  the  work  of  destruction  was  reserved  for  a  mightier 
foe  than  Drake.  The  English  vessels  were  soon  forced  to 
give  up  the  chase  by  the  running  out  of  their  supplies.  But 
the  Spanish  ships  had  no  sooner  reached  the  Orkneys  than 
the  storms  of  the  northern  seas  broke  on  them  with  a  fury 
before  which  all  concert  and  union  disappeared.  In  Octo- 
ber fifty  reached  Corunna,  bearing  ten  thousand  men 
stricken  with  pestilence  and  death.  Of  the  rest  some  were 
sunk,  some  dashed  to  pieces  against  the  Irish  cliffs.  The 
wreckers  of  the  Orkneys  and  the  Faroes,  the  clansmen  of 
the  Scottish  Isles,  the  kernes  of  Donegal  and  Galway,  all 
had  their  part  in  the  work  of  murder  and  robbery.  Eight 
thousand  Spaniards  perished  between  the  Giant's  Cause- 
way and  the  Blaskets.  On  a  strand  near  Sligo  an  English 
captain  numbered  eleven  hundred  corpses  which  had  been 
cast  up  by  the  sea.  The  flower  of  the  Spanish  nobility,  who 
had  been  sent  on  the  new  crusade  under  Alonzo  da  Leyva, 
after  twice  suffering  shipwreck,  put  a  third  time  to  sea  to 
founder  on  a  reef  near  Dunluce. 

"I  sent  my  ships  against  men,"  said  Philip  when  the  news 
reached  him,  "not  against  the  seas."  It  was  in  nobler  tone 
that  England  owned  her  debt  to  the  storm  that  drove  the 
Armada  to  its  doom.  On  the  medal  that  commemorated 
its  triumph  were  graven  the  words,  "The  Lord  sent  his 


134  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiirnitiriiiiiiiiiiimiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirriuiiiiiiniiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiMiMinuitiiiiiitiiiitiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

wind,  and  scattered  them/^  The  pride  of  the  conquerors 
was  hushed  before  their  sense  of  a  mighty  deliverance.  It 
was  not  till  England  saw  the  broken  host  "fly  with  a  south- 
erly wind  to  the  north"  that  she  knew  what  a  weight  of 
fear  she  had  borne  for  thirty  years. 

The  victory  over  the  Armada,  the  deliverance  from  Spain, 
the  rolling  away  of  the  terror  which  had  hung  like  a  cloud 
over  the  hopes  of  the  new  people,  was  like  a  passing  from 
death  into  life.  Within  as  without,  the  dark  sky  suddenly 
cleared.  The  national  unity  proved  stronger  than  the  re- 
ligious strife.  When  the  Catholic  lords  flocked  to  the  camp 
at  Tilbury,  or  put  off  to  join  the  fleet  in  the  Channel,  Eliza- 
beth could  ptide  herself  on  a  victory  as  great  as  the  vic- 
tory over  the  Armada.  "Let  tyrants  fear,"  she  exclaimed  in 
words  that  still  ring  like  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  as  she 
appeared  among  her  soldiers.  "Let  tyrants  fear!  I 
have  always  so  behaved  myself  that  under  God  I  have 
placed  my  chief  est  strength  and  safeguard  in  the  loyal 
hearts  and  goodwill  of  my  subjects!  And  therefore  I  am 
come  among  you,  as  you  see,  resolved  in  the  midst  and  heat 
of  the  battle  to  live  and  die  amongst  you  all." 


These,  also,  were  Builders  of  Democincy. 

With  the  defeat  of  the  Armada  England  became  at  once 
a  great  power.  In  the  earlier  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign 
European  statesmen  thought  of  her  as  doomed  to  be  a  de- 
pendency of  Spain  or  of  France.  But  now  the  control  of 
the  seas  passed  to  England.  Merchants  and  nobles  fitted 
out  privateers  that  brought  galleons  and  treasura  ships  to 


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English  harbors.  A  group  of  trading  vessels  defeated  a 
larger  group  of  Spanish  war-galleys  at  Gibraltar.  Even 
more  daring  was  the  exploit  of  Sir  Richard  Grenville,  who 
commanded  the  Revenge  at  the  Azores  in  1591.  The  Re- 
venge was  one  of  a  small  company  of  English  vessels  sur- 
prised by  a  fleet  of  Spanish  warships.  A  brilliant  account 
of  the  battle  was  written  by  no  less  a  person  than  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  named  above  as  one  of  the  great  Eliza- 
bethan seamen. 

Lord  Bacon,  himself  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of  the 
time,  spoke  of  the  last  fight  of  the  Revenge  as  "a  defeat 
exceeding  a  victory,  memorable  even  beyond  credit  and  to 
the  height  of  some  heroical  fable."  According  to  another 
contemporary  account.  Sir  Richard  was  visited,  before  his 
death,  by  many  Spanish  captains  and  gentlemen,  who  "won- 
dered at  his  courage  and  stout  heart,  for  that  he  showed 
not  any  sign  of  faintness  nor  changing  of  color.  But  feel- 
ing the  hour  of  death  to  approach,  he  spoke  these  words  in 
Spanish,  and  said:  ^Here  die  I,  Richard  Grenville,  with 
a  joyful  and  quiet  mind,  for  that  I  have  ended  my  life  as  a 
true  soldier  ought  to  do  that  hath  fought  for  his  country, 
queen,  religion,  and  honor,  whereby  my  soul  most  joyful 
departeth  out  of  this  body,  and  shall  always  leave  behind  it 
an  everlasting  fame  of  a  valiant  and  true  soldier  that  hath 
done  his  duty  as  he  was  bound  to  do.' " 

This  "everlasting  fame"  in  which  the  dying  hero  found 
recompense  for  his  devotion  to  duty  has  become  reality. 
The  last  fight  of  the  Revenge  has  become  a  glorious  tra- 
dition in  naval  warfare,  and  one  of  the  greatest  English 
poets,  Alfred  Tennyson,  has  made  it  the  theme  of  a  stirring 
poem. 


136  Builders  of  Democracy 

>MnriniiiMinnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiniiiniiMininiiiniiiiiiriiMiiriniiiNiiinnuMuiuiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiii:ii 

THE  REVENGE 

ALFEED,  LORD  TENNYSON 


At  Flores  in  the  Azores  Sir  Richard  Grenville  lay, 

And  a  pinnace,  like  a  fluttered  bird,  came  flying  from  far 

away; 
'^Spanish  ships  of  war  at  sea !  we  have  sighted  fifty-three !" 
Then  sware  Lord  Thomas  Howard :    "  'Fore  God  I  am  no 

coward ; 
But  I  cannot  meet  them  here,  for  my  ships  are  ont  of  gear, 
And  the  half  my  men  are  sick.    I  must  fly,  but  follow  quick. 
We  are  six  ships  of  the  line ;  can  we  fight  with  fifty-three  ?'' 


II 

Then  spake  Sir  Richard  Grenville:     "I  know  you  are  no 

coward ; 
You  fly  them  for  a  moment  to  flght  with  them  again. 
But  I've  ninety  men  and  more  that  are  lying  sick  ashore. 
I  should  count  myself  the  coward  if  I  left  them,  my  Lord 

Howard, 
To  these  Inquisition  dogs  and  the  devildoms  of  Spain." 


Ill 

So  Lord  Howard  past  away  with  five  ships  of  war  that  day. 

Till  he  melted  like  a  cloud  in  the  silent  summer  heaven ; 

But  Sir  Richard  bore  in  hand  all  his  sick  men  from  the  land 

Very  carefully  and  slow. 

Men  of  Bideford  in  Devon, 

And  we  laid  them  on  the  ballast  down  below : 

For  we  brought  them  all  aboard. 

And  they  blest  him  in  their  pain,  that  they  were  not  left 

to  Spain, 
To  the  thumb-screw  and  the  stake,  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 


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IV    . 

He  had  only  a  hundred  seamen  to  work  the  ship  and  to  fight 
And  he  sailed  away  from  Flores  till  the  Spaniard  came  in 

sight. 
With  his  huge  sea-castles  heaving  upon  the  weather  bow. 
"Shall  we  fight  or  shall  we  fly? 
Good  Sir  Richard,  tell  us  now. 
For  to  fight  is  but  to  die ! 

There'll  be  little  of  us  left  by  the  time  this  sun  be  set." 
And  Sir  Richard  said  again  :    "We  be  all  good  English  men. 
Let  us  bang  these  dogs  of  Seville,  the  children  of  the  devil, 
For  I  never  turn'd  my  back  upon  Don  or  devil  yet." 


V 

Sir  Richard  spoke  and  he  laughed,  and  we  roar'd  a  hurrah, 
and  so 

The  little  Revenge  ran  on  sheer  into  the  heart  of  the  foe, 

With  her  hundred  fighters  on  deck,  and  her  ninety  sick 
below ; 

For  half  of  their  fleet  to  the  right  and  half  to  the  left  were 
seen. 

And  the  little  Revenge  ran  on  thro'  the  long  sea-lane  be- 
tween. 


vt 

Thousands  of  their  soldiers  look'd  down  from  their  decks 

and  laughed. 
Thousands  of  their  seamen  made  mock  at  the  mad  little 

craft 
Running  on  and  on,  till  delay'd 
By  their  mountain-like  San  Philip  that,  of  fifteen  hundred 

tons, 
And  up-shadowing  high  above  us  with  her  yawning  tiers 

of  guns, 
Took  the  breath  from  our  sails,  and  we  stay'd. 


138  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiMiiniiitiiuinniiHiniiiiiinninniniiiiiMnMiiiiiMniiMiiiMiiiiiiiuniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMniniiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

•    VII 

A-nd  while  now  the  great  San  Philip  hung  above  ns  like  a 

cloud 
Whence  the  thunderbolt  will  fall 
Long  and  loud, 
Four  galleons  drew  away 
From  the  Spanish  fleet  that  day, 

And  two  upon  the  larboard  and  two  upon  the  starboard  lay. 
And  the  battle-thunder  broke  from  them  all. 

VIII 

But  anon  the  great  San  Philip,  she  bethought  herself  and 

went, 
Having  that  within  her  womb  that  had  left  her  ill  content ; 
And  the  rest  they  came  aboard  us,  and  they  fought  us  hand 

to  hand. 
For  a  dozen  times  they  came  with  their  pikes  and  mus- 

queteers. 
And  a  dozen  times  we  shook  'em  ofl!  as  a  dog  that  shakes 

his  ears 
When  he  leaps  from  the  water  to  the  land. 

IX 

And  the  sun  went  down,  and  the  stars  came  out  far  over  the 
summer  sea. 

But  never  a  moment  ceased  the  fight  of  the  one  and  the 
fifty-three. 

Ship  after  ship,  the  whole  night  long,  their  high-built  gal- 
leons came. 

Ship  after  ship,  the  whole  night  long,  with  her  battle-thun- 
der and  flame: 

Ship  after  ship,  the  whole  night  long,  drew  back  with  her 
dead  and  her  shame. 

For  some  were  sunk  and  many  were  shattered,  and  so  could 
fight  no  more — - 

God  of  battles,  was  ever  a  battle  like  this  in  the  world 
before  ? 


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For  he  said,  "Fight  on !  fight  on !" 

Tho'  his  vessel  was  all  but  a  wreck; 

And  it  chanced  that,  when  half  of  the  short  summer  night 

was  gone. 
With  a  grisly  wound  to  be  drest  he  had  left  the  deck, 
But  a  bullet  struck  him  that  was  dressing  it  suddenly  dead. 
And  himself  he  was  wounded  again  in  the  side  and  the 

head. 
And  he  said,  "Fight  on !  fight  on !" 


XI 

And  the  night  went  down,  and  the  sun  smiled  out  far  over 

the  summer  sea. 
And  the  Spanish  fleet  with  broken  sides  lay  round  us  all  in 

a  ring; 
But  they  dared  not  touch  us  again,  for  they  fear'd  that  we 

still  could  sting, 
So  they  watch'd  what  the  end  would  be. 
And  we  had  not  fought  them  in  vain, 
But  in  perilous  plight  were  we, 
Seeing  forty  of  our  poor  hundred  were  slain, 
And  half  of  the  rest  of  us  maim'd  for  life 
In  the  crash  of  the  cannonades  and  the  desperate  strife : 
And  the  sick  men  down  in  the  hold  were  most  of  them  stark 

and  cold. 
And  the  pikes  were  all  broken  and  bent,  and  the  powder  was 

all  of  it  spent; 
And  the  masts  and  the  rigging  were  lying  over  the  side; 
But  Sir  Eichard  cried  in  his  English  pride : 
"We  have  fought  such  a  fight  for  a  day  and  a  night 
As  may  never  be  fought  again ! 
We  have  won  great  glory,  my  men ! 
And  a  day  less  or  more 
At  sea  or  ashore, 
We  die — does  it  matter  when  ? 


140  Builders  of  Democracy 

niiiiiiiiiniMiiiiiiriniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiirHtiiiiiiiiritiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

Sink  me  the  ship.  Master  Gunner — sink  her,  split  her  in 

twain ! 
Fall  into  the  hands  of  God,  not  into  the  hands  of  Spain !" 

XII 

And  the  gunner  said,  "Ay,  ay,"  but  the  seamen  made  reply : 

"We  have  children,  we  have  wives, 

And  the  Lord  hath  spared  our  lives. 

We  will  make  the  Spaniard  promise,  if  we  yield,  to  let 

us  go; 
We  shall  live  to  fight  again  and  to  strike  another  blow." 
And  the  lion  there* lay  dying,  and  they  yielded  to  the  foe. 

XIII 

And  the  stately  Spanish  men  to  their  flagship  bore  him  then. 
Where  they  laid  him  by  the  mast,  old  Sir  Eichard  caught  at 

last, 
And  they  praised  him  to  his  face  with  their  courtly  foreign 

grace ; 
But  he  rose  upon  their  decks,  and  he  cried : 
"I  have  fought  for  Queen  and  Faith  like  a  valiant  man  and 

true; 
I  have  only  done  my  duty  as  a  man  is  bound  to  do. 
With  a  joyful  spirit  I  Sir  Eichard  Grenville  die!" 
And  he  fell  upon  their  decks,  and  he  died. 

XIV 

And  they  stared  at  the  dead  that  had  been  so  valiant  and 

true. 
And  had  holden  the  power  and  glory  of  Spain  so  cheap 
That  he  dared  her  with  one  little  ship  and  his  English  few ; 
Was  he  devil  or  man  ?    He  was  devil  for  aught  they  knew. 
But  they  sank  his  body  with  honor  down  into  the  deep. 
And  they  mann'd  the  Revenge  with  a  swarthier  alien  crew, 
And  away  she  sail'd  with  her  loss  and  long'd  for  her  own ; 
When  a  wind  from  the  lands  they  had  ruin'd  awoke  from 

sleep, 


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IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIItllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMllllllllllllltltll Illllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 

And  the  water  began  to  heave  and  the  weather  to  moan, 

And  or  ever  that  evening  ended  a  great  gale  blew, 

And  a  wave  like  the  wave  that  is  raised  by  an  earthquake 

grew. 
Till  it  smote  on  their  hulls  and  their  sails  and  their  masts 

and  their  flags, 
And  the  whole  sea  plunged  and  fell  on  the  shot-shatter'd 

navy  of  Spain, 
And  the  little  Revenge  herself  went  down  by  the  island 

crags 
I'd  be  lost  evermore  in  the  main. 


The  spirit  of  the  old  Vikings,  bold  sea-rovers  from  the 
Xorthland,  was  in  these  Elizabethan  seamen.  England's 
love  of  the  sea,  in  fact,  is  an  inheritance  from  the  peoples 
to  which  Beowulf  belonged,  ancestors  of  Drake  and  Kaleigh 
and  Gilbert. 

The  selection  that  follows  shows  us  something  of  this 
heroic  spirit.  Mr.  Mackay's  poem  is  about  such  a  hero  as 
Beowulf  was. 

THE  SEA-KING'S  BURIAL 

CHABLES  MACKAY 

"My  strength  is  failing  fast," 
Said  the  sea-king  to  his  men ; 

"I  shall  never  sail  the  seas 
As  a  conqueror  again. 

But  while  yet  a  drop  remains 

Of  the  life-blood  in  my  veins. 

Raise,  0  raise  me  from  the  bed ; 

Put  the  crown  upon  my  head ; 

Put  my  good  sword  in  my  hand, 

And  so  lead  me  to  the  strand, 

Where  my  ship  at  anchor  rides 
Steadily ; 


142  Builders  of  Democracy 

HiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iiiiiiiiiiiiii!ii!r 

If  I  cannot  end  my  life 
In  the  crimsoned  battle-strife. 
Let  me  die  as  I  have  lived. 
On  the  sea." 

They  have  raised  King  Balder  up, 
Put  his  crown  upon  his  head ; 

They  have  sheathed  his  limbs  in  mail. 
And  the  purple  o'er  him  spread ; 

And  amid  the  greeting  rude 

Of  a  gathering  multitude, 

Borne  him  slowly  to  the  shore — 

All  the  energy  of  yore 

From  his  dim  eyes  flashing  forth — 

Old  sea-lion  of  the  north — 

As  he  looked  upon  his  ship 
Eiding  free. 
And  on  his  forehead  pale 
Felt  the  cold,  refreshing  gale. 

And  heard  the  welcome  sound 
Of  the  sea. 

They  have  borne  him  to  the  ship 
With  a  slow  and  solemn  tread ; 

They  have  placed  him  on  the  deck 
With  his  crown  upon  his  head, 

Where  he  sat  as  on  a  throne; 

And  have  left  him  there  alone. 

With  his  anchor  ready  weighed. 

And  his  snowy  sails  displayed 

To  the  favoring  wind,  once  more 

Blowing  freshly  from  the  shore ; 

And  have  bidden  him  farewell 
Tenderly, 
Saying,  "King  of  mighty  men. 
We  shall  meet  thee  yet  again, 

InValhalla,  mth  the  monarchs    • 
Of  the  sea/' 


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iifiiniiiiiniiuiuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiHiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuH 

Underneath  him  in  the  hold 

They  have  placed  the  lighted  brand ; 

And  the  fire  was  burning  slow 
As  the  vessel  from  the  land. 

Like  a  stag-hound  from  the  slips. 

Darted  forth  from  out  the  ships. 

There  was  music  in  her  sail 

As  it  swelled  before  the  gale. 

And  a  dashing  at  her  prow 

As  it  cleft  the  waves  below, 

And  the  good  ship  sped  along. 
Scudding  free; 
As  on  many  a  battle  morn 
In  her  time  she  had  been  borne. 

To  struggle  and  to  conquer 
On  the  sea. 

And  the  king,  with  sudden  strength. 
Started  up  and  paced  the  deck. 

With  his  good  sword  for  his  staff 
And  his  robe  around  his  neck. 

Once  alone,  he  raised  his  hand 

To  the  people  on  the  land ; 

And  with  shout  and  joyous  cry 

Once  again  they  made  reply. 

Till  the  loud,  exulting  cheer 

Sounded  faintly  -on  his  ear ; 

For  the  gale  was  o'er  him  blowing 
Fresh  and  free ; 
And  ere  yet  an  hour  had  passed. 
He  was  driven  before  the  blast. 

And  a  storm  was  on  his  path 
On  the  sea. 

"So  blow,  ye  tempests,  blow. 
And  my  spirit  shall  not  quail : 

I  have  fought  with  many  a  foe, 
I  have  weathered  many  a  gale ; 


144  Builders  of  Democracy 

aiitimimniiiiuiuiiiutiiiiiiiiiiimtiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiuMiiiiiiiiiiitiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiii^^^ 

And  in  this  hour  of  death, 
Ere  I  yield  my  fleeting  breath — 
Ere  the  fire  now  burning  slow 
Shall  come  rushing  from  below, 
And  this  worn  and  wasted  frame 
Be  devoted  to  the  flame — 
I  will  raise  my  voice  in  triumph. 
Singing  free ; — 
To  the  great  All-Father's  home 
I  am  driving  through  the  foam, 
I  am  sailing  to  Valhalla, 
O'er  the  sea. 

"So  blow^  ye  stormy  wind.s — 

And,  ye  flames,  ascend  on  high ; — 
In  the  easy,  idle  bed 

Let  the  slave  and  coward  die ! 
But  give  me  the  driving  keel. 
Clang  of  shields  and  flashing  steel ; 
Happy,  happy,  thus  I'd  yield. 
On  the  deck  or  in  the  field, 
■  "    My  last  breath,  shouting,  ^On 
To  victory.' 
But  since  this  has  been  denied. 
They  shall  say  that  I  have  died 
Without  flinching,  like  a  monarch 
Of  the  sea." 

And  Balder  spoke  no  more, 

And  no  sound  escaped  his  lip ; — 
Neither  recked  he  of  the  roar. 
The  destruction  of  his  ship, 
Nor  the  fleet  sparks  mounting  high^ 
Nor  the  glare  upon  the  sky; 
Scarcely  heard  the  billows  dash. 
Nor  the  burning  timber  crash : 
Scarcely  felt  the  scorching  heat 
That  was  gathering  at  his  feet. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        145 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiMiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiniiinii 

Nor  the  fierce  flames  mounting  o'er  him 
Greedily. 
But  the  life  was  in  him  yet, 
And  the  courage  to  forget 
All  his  pain,  in  his  triumph 
On  the  sea. 

Once  alone  a  cry  arose, 

Half  of  anguish,  half  of  pride, 
As  he  sprang  upon  his  feet 

With  the  flames  on  every  side- 
"I  am  coming !"  said  the  king, 
''Where  the  swords  and  bucklers  ring — 
Where  the  warrior  lives  again 
With  the  souls  of  mighty  men — 
I  am  coming,  great  All-Father, 
Unto  Thee ! 
Unto  Odin,  unto  Thor, 
And  the  strong,  true  hearts  of  yor 
I  am  coming  to  Valhalla, 
O'er  the  sea." 


AN  ELIZABETHAN  SEAMAN 

JAMES    ANTHONY    FROUDE 

Some  two  miles  above  the-  port  of  Dartmouth,  once 
among  the  most  important  harbors  in  England,  on  a  pro- 
jecting angle  of  land  which  runs  out  into  the  river  at  the 
head  of  one  of  its  most  beautiful  reaches,  there  has  stood 
for  some  centuries  the  Manor  House  of  Greenaway.  The 
water  runs  deep  all  the  way  to  it  from  the  sea,  and  the 
largest  vessels  may  ride  with  safety  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  the  windows.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century 
there  must  have  met,  in  the  hall  of  this  mansion,  a  party 
as  remarkable  as  could  have  have  been  found  anywhere 
in   England.     Humfrey  and  Adrian   Gilbert,  with  their 


146  Builders  of  Democracy 

''rrHmimiiiiimiiiiiiiiimniiiiniiiiiiNMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiniMiiHniiMMiiiiiiiMiiMiiNiiiiinHMMiiinMiiiiiiiniirniiiiiuiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiii 

half-brother,  Walter  Ealeigh,  here,  when  little  boys,  played 
at  sailors  in  the  reaches  of  Long  Stream,  in  the  summer 
evenings  doubtless  rowing  down  with  the  tide  to  the  port, 
and  wondering  at  the  quaint  figure-heads  and  carved  prows 
of  the  ships  that  thronged  it;  or  climbing  on  board,  and 
listening,  with  hearts  beating,  to  the  mariners'  tales  of  the 
new  earth  beyond  the  sunset.  And  here  in  later  life,  ma- 
tured men,  whose  boyish  dreams  had  become  heroic  action, 
they  used  again  to  meet  in  the  intervals  of  quiet,  and  the 
rock  is  shown  underneath  the  house  where  Ealeigh  smoked 
the  first  tobacco.  Another  remarkable  man  could  not  fail 
to  have  made  a  fourth  at  these  meetings.  A  sailor-boy  of 
Sandwich,  the  adjoining  parish,  John  Davis,  showed  early 
genius  which  could  not  have  escaped  the  eye  of  such  neigh- 
bors, and  in  the  atmosphere  of  Greenaway  he  learned  to  be 
as  noble  as  the  Gilberts,  and  as  tender  and  delicate  as 
Raleigh. 

In  1585  John  Davis  left  Dartmouth  on  his  first  voyage 
into  the  Polar  Seas ;  and  twice  subsequently  he  went  again, 
venturing  in  small,  ill-equipped  vessels  of  thirty  or  forty 
tons  into  the  most  dangerous  seas.  These  voyages  were  as 
remarkable  for  their  success  as  for  the  daring  with  which 
they  were  accomplished,  and  Davis's  epitaph  is  written  on 
the  map  of  the  world,  where  his  name  still  remains  to  com- 
memorate his  discoveries.  Brave  as  he  was,  he  is  dis- 
tinguished by  a  peculiar  and  exquisite  sweetness  of  nature, 
which,  from  many  little  facts  of  his  life,  seems  to  have  af- 
fected every  one  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  in  a  remark- 
able degree.  "We  find  men,  for  the  love  of  Master  Davis, 
leaving  their  firesides  to  sail  with  him,  without  other  hope 
or  notion;  we  find  silver  bullets  cast  to  shoot  him  in  a 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        147 

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nmtiny ;  the  hard,  rude  natures  of  the  mutineers  being  awed 
by  something  in  his  carriage  which  was  not  like  that  of  a 
common  man.  He  has  written  the  account  of  one  of  his 
northern  voyages  himself;  and  there  is  an  imaginative 
beauty  in  it,  and  a  rich  delicacy  of  expression,  which  is 
called  out  in  him  by  the  first  sight  of  strange  lands  and 
things  and  people. 

We  have  only  space  to  tell  something  of  the  conclusion  of 
his  voyage  north.  In  latitude  sixty-three  degrees,  he  fell 
in  with  a  barrier  of  ice,  which  he  coasted  for  thirteen  days 
without  finding  an  opening.  The  very  sight  of  an  iceberg 
was  new  to  all  his  crew ;  and  the  ropes  and  shrouds,  though 
it  was  midsummer,  becoming  encompassed  with  ice, — 

"The  people  began  to  fall  sick  and  faint-hearted — ^where- 
upon, very  orderly,  and  with  good  discretion,  they  entreated 
me  to  regard  safety  of  mine  own  life,  as  well  as  the  preser- 
vation of  theirs;  and  that  I  should  not,  through  over-bold- 
ness, leave  their  widows  and  fatherless  children  to  give 
me  bitter  curses. 

"Whereupon,  seeking  counsel  of  God,  it  pleased  His  Di- 
vine Majesty  to  move  my  heart  to  prosecute  that  which  I 
hope  shall  be  to  His  glory  and-  to  the  contentation  of  every 
Christian  mind." 

He  had  two  vessels — one  of  some  burden,  the  other  a  pin- 
nace of  thirty  tons.  The  result  of*  the  counsel  which  he 
had  sought  was,  that  he  made  over  his  own  large  vessel  to 
such  as  wished  to  return,  and  himself,  "thinking  it  better 
to  die  with  honor  than  to  return  with  infamy,"  went  on 
with  such  volunteers  aft  would  follow  him,  in  a  poor  leaky 
cutter,  up  the  sea  now  in  commemoration  of  that  adventure 
called  Davis  Strait.     He  ascended  four  degrees  north  of 


148  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

the  furthest  known  point,  among  storms  and  icebergs,  when 
the  long  days  and  twilight  nights  alone  saved  him  from 
being  destroyed,  and,  coasting  back  along  the  American 
shore,  he  discovered  Hudson  Strait,  supposed  then  to  be 
the  long  desired  entrance  into  the  Pacific.  This  exploit 
drew  the  attention  of  Walsingham,  and  by  him  Davis  was 
presented  to  Burleigh,  "who  was  also  pleased  to  show  him 
great  encouragement."  If  either  these  statesmen  or  Elizabeth 
had  been  twenty  years  younger,  his  name  would  have  filled 
a  larger  space  in  history  than  a  small  corner  of  the  map 
of  the  world ;  but,  if  he  was  employed  at  all  in  the  last  years 
of  the  century,  no  historian  has  been  found  to  celebrate  his 
work,  and  no  clew  is  left  to  guide  us.  He  disappears;  a 
cloud  falls  over  him.  He  is  known  to  have  commanded 
trading  vessels  in  the  Eastern  seas,  and  to  have  returned 
five  times  from  India.  But  the  details  are  all  lost,  and 
accident  has  only  parted  the  clouds  for  a  moment  to  show 
us  the  mournful  setting  with  which  he,  too,  went  down 
upon  the  sea. 

.  In  taking  out  Sir  Edward  Michellthome  to  Indid,  in 
160-i,  he  fell  in  with  a  crew  of  Japanese,  whose  ship  had 
been  burnt,  drifting  at  sea,  without  provisions,  in  a  leaky 
junk.  He  supposed  them  to  be  pirates,  but  he  did  not 
choose  to  leave  them  tq  so  wretched  a  death,  and  took  them 
on  board;  and  in  a  few  hours,  watching  their  opportunity, 
they  murdered  him. 

As  the  fool  dieth,  so  dieth  the  wise,  and  there  is  no  dif- 
ference ;  it  was  the  chance  of  the  sea,  and  the  ill  reward  of 
a  humane  action — a  melancholy  end  for  such  a  man — like 
the  end  of  a  warrior,  not  dying  Epaminondas-like  on  the 
field  of  victory,  but  cut  off  in  some  poor  brawl  or  ambuscade. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        149 

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But  SO  it  was  with  all  these  men.  They  were  cut  off  in  the 
flower  of  their  days,  and  few  of  them  laid  their  bones  in 
the  sepulehers  of  their  fathers.  They  knew  the  service 
which  they  had  chosen,  and  they  did  not  ask  the  wages  for 
which  they  had  not  labored.  Life  with  them  ^as  no  summer 
holiday,  but  a  holy  sacrifice  offered  up  to  duty,  and  what 
their  Master  sent  was  welcome.  Beautiful  is  old  age — 
beautiful  is  the  slow-dropping  mellow  autumn  of  a  rich, 
glorious  summer.  In  the  old  man,  Nature  has  fulfilled  her 
work;  she  leads  him  with  her  blessings;  she  fills  him  with 
the  fruits  of  a  well-spent  life ;  and,  surrounded  by  his  chil- 
dren and  his  children's  children,  she  rocks  him  softly  away 
to  a  grave,  to  which  he  is  followed  with  blessings.  God 
forbid  we  should  not  call  it  beautiful.  It  is  beautiful,  but 
not  the  most  beautiful.  There  is  another  life,  hard,  rough, 
and  thorny,  trodden  with  bleeding  feet  and  aching  brow; 
the  life  of  which  the  cross  is  the  symbol ;  a  battle  which  no 
peace  follows,  this  side  of  the  grave ;  which  the  grave  gapes 
to  finish,  before  the  victory  is  won;  and — strange  that  it 
should  be  so — this  is  the  highest  life  of  man.  Look  back 
along  the  great  names  of  history;  there  is  none  whose  life 
has  been  other  than  this.  They  to  whom  it  has  been  given 
to  do  the  really  highest  work  in  this  earth — whoever  they 
are,  Jew  or  Gentile,  Pagan  or  Christian,  warriors,  legis- 
lators, philosophers,  priests,  poets,  kings,  slaves — one  and 
all,  their  fate  has  been  the  same — the  same  bitter  cup  has 
been  given  them  to  drink.  And  so  it  was  with  the  servants 
of  England  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Their  life  was  a  long 
battle,  either  with  the  elements  or  with  men;  and  it  was 
enough  for  them  to  fulfill  their  work,  and  to  pa^s  away  in 
the  hour  when  God  had  nothing  more  to  bid  them  do. 


150  Builders  of  Democracy 

UnilllllUnillUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllMlllltlMIIIIIIMIIIIIItlllllllllllllMllllllllllllirillllllllllllllMIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIII 

More  than  two  hundred  years  after  Sir  Eichard  Gren- 
rille's  heroic  death,  Thomas  Campbell  wrote  a  ballad  that 
expresses  the  spirit  of  the  ocean-warriors  of  England.  Ad- 
miral Blake  died  in  1657;  Admiral  Nelson  fell  at  Trafalgar 
in  1805. 

YE  MARINERS  OF  ENGLAND 

THOMAS    CAMPBELL 

Ye  Mariners  of  England ! 

That  guard  our  native  seas; 

Wliose  flag  has  braved,  a  thousand  years, 

The  battle  and  the  breeze ! 

Your  glorious  standard  launch  again 

To  match  another  foe ! 

And  sweep  through  the  deep, 

While  the  stormy  winds  do  blow ; 

While  the  battle  rages  loud  and  long 

And  the  stormy  winds  do  blow. 

The  spirits  of  your  fathers 

Shall  start  from  every  wave ! — 

For  the  deck  it  was  their  field  of  fame, 

And  Ocean  was  their  grave : 

Where  Blake  and  mighty  Nelson  fell. 

Your  manly  hearts  shall  glow. 

As  ye  sweep  through  the  deep, 

While  the  stormy  winds  do  blow ; 

While  the  battle  rages  loud  and  long 

And  the  stormy  winds  do  blow. 

Britannia  needs  no  bulwarks, 

No  towers  along  the  steep ; 

Her  march  is  o'er  the  mountain-waves. 

Her  home  is  on  the  deep. 

With  thunders  from  her  native  oak 

She  quells  the  floods  below, — 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         151 

liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiuiiuuiiiniiiiMiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^^ 

As  they  roar  on  the  shore, 
When  the  stormy  winds  do  blow : 
When  the  battle  rages  loud  and  long. 
And  the  stormy  winds  do  blow. 

The  meteor  flag  of  England 

Shall  yet  terrific  burn ; 

Till  danger's  troubled  night  depart. 

And  the  star  of  peace  return. 

Then,  then,  ye  ocean-warriors ! 

Our  song  and  feast  shall  flow 

To  the  fame  of  your  name. 

When  the  storm  has  ceased  to  blow ; 

When  the  fiery  fight  is  heard  no  more, 

And  the  storm  has  ceased  to  blow. 


VII 

OF  A  BOOK  THAT  ALSO  OPENED  A  NEW  WORLD.  HOW  A 
STRANGE  PEOPLE  GATHERED  STRENGTH  AND  MEASURED 
THEMSELVES  AGAINST  THE  WORLD'S  VANITIES  AND  ALSO 
AGAINST  THE  TYRANNY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  KINGS.  HOW  A 
KING  RULED  WITHOUT  A  PARLIAMENT,  AND  HOW  AFTER- 
WARDS A  PARLIAMENT  RULED  WITHOUT  A  KING.  AND  OF 
TWO  HEROIC  BUILDERS,— A  COUNTRY  SQUIRE  AND  A  POET. 

The  seventeenth  century. brought  great  changes  to  Eng- 
land. James  I,  who  succeeded  the  great  Elizabeth  in  1603, 
and  his  successor  Charles  I,  ruled  absolutely,  that  is,  with- 
out any  consideration  of  the  rights  and  wishes  of  the  people. 
They  held  that  their  power  was  derived  from  God.  This 
was  the  "divine  right"  idea  of  monarchy,  held  by  Philip  of 
Spain  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth  and  by  the  Kaiser  of  Ger- 
many in  our  time.  The  English  Parliament  was  not  per- 
mitted to  meet,  or  if  it  did  meet,  was  allowed  no  power. 
The  English  people  became  divided.    One  class,  those  who 


152  Builders  of  Democracy 

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were  attached  to  the  Court,  lived  selfish  lives,  given  up  to 
extravagance  and  luxury.  The  masses  of  the  people  sought 
simplicity  and  sincerity  of  life.  Many  of  them  were  called 
Puritans  because  of  their  dislike  for  form  and  ceremony 
in  religious  observances,  and  because  of  their  desire  to  do 
away  with  the  ignorance  and  corruption  of  many  of  the 
clergy.  They  believed  that  the  source  of  religious  truth  was 
to  be  found  in  the  Bible,  not  in  the  priesthood ;  that  a  man 
should  be  free  to  think  for  himself,  not  bound  by  authority ; 
and  that  government,  in  the  nation  as  well  as  in  the  church, 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Thus,  two  ideals  of 
government  came  into  conflict  with  each  other:  the  idea 
of  divine  right,  of  absolute  rule  by  the  monarch,  as  against 
the  idea  of  freedom  of  thought  and  participation  in  gov- 
ernment in  church  and  state.  Despairing  of  any  solution 
at  home,  many  Englishmen  in  the  seventeenth  century  emi- 
grated to  America.  They  carried  with  them  the  ideas  of 
government  that  had  been  developing  in  England  for  many 
generations,  and  they  set  up  in  their  new  homes  the  kind 
of  government  they  had  longed  to  see  in  England,  thus 
leading  the  way  to  American  democracy. 

It  is  very  important  that  you  should  get  clearly  in  mind 
the  relationship  between  the  founding  of  liberty  in  America 
and  the  struggle  that  was  going  on  in  England  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  in  order  that  you  may  see  how  closely 
related  to  each  other  England  and  America  really  are; 
and  may  see,  also,  how  they  have  together  worked  out  most 
completely  that  ideal  of  government  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  and  for  the  people  that  is  now  in  conflict  with  the 
older  ideal  of  government  by  one  supTeme  ruler.  In  the 
seventeenth  century,  both  these  ideas  were  in  a  mighty  con- 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        153 

iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiHiiniiiiNiiiMiiiiiiiMniNiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiuiiirNiiiiiiniiiiiiiii 

flict  in  one  country,  England.  The  result  there  was  Civil 
War  and  Revolution,  with  the  triumph,  for  the  time  being, 
of  free  government.  Another  result  of  the  conflict  was  the 
founding  and  growth  of  great  English  colonies  in  Amer- 
ica, devoted  to  the  working  out  of  this  principle.  A  cen- 
tury later,  the  same  questions  were  again  an  issue,  both  in 
England  itself  and  in  the  relations  of  England  to  her  col- 
onies. The  result,  once  more,  was  war,  with  a  further  vic- 
tory for  free  government  through  the  independence  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  twentieth  century,. the  struggle  has 
been  renewed,  with  the  Teutonic  powers  representing  the 
ideas  held  by  the  English  kings  of  the  seventeenth  century 
and  the  British  government  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
with  the  Allies  representing  free  government.  With  these 
facts  in  mind  let  us  look  a  little  more  closely  at  the  events 
of  1603-1688. 

The  events  of  the  sixteenth  century — the  great  increase 
in  knowledge  of  lands  previously  unknown;  the  great  in- 
crease in  contact  between  England  and  the  continent 
through  foreign  travel;  the  great  increase  in  opportunities 
for  reading ;  and  the  marvelous  development  of  opportunity 
for  the  ordinary  man  to  live  comfortably  if  not  prosper- 
ously,— all  these  contributed  to  the  development  of  personal 
judgment,  the  habit  of  thinking  for  oneself.  Men  became 
more  self-reliant.  They  belonged  to  a  great  nation,  able 
to  meet  and  to  conquer  a  long-dreaded  enemy.  They  also 
became  more  serious,  more  religious  in  their  outlook  on  life. 

In  1611  the  most  wonderful  of  English  books  was  given 
to  the  nation.  It  was  the  King  James  version  of  the  Bible. 
This  book  was  the  work  of  a  band  of  translators  who  wisely 
tried  to  get  the  utmost  simplicity  of  language.    The  result 


154  Builders  of  Democracy 

II IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHI IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllil 

was  a  book  that  at  once  became  a  whole  literature  for  the 
common  man.  It  was  filled  with  stories,  with  homely  inci- 
dents that  illustrated  great  moral  truths,  and  with  wisdom 
for  every  day.  England  became  a  church.  Every  man  had 
his  Bible  as  a  guide  for  his  thought  and  conduct.  He 
needed  no  interpreter,  for  religion  became  simple ;  the  pos- 
session not  of  a  professional  class,  doctors,  lawyers,  church- 
men, but  of  ordinary  men  and  women.  The  language  of 
every  day  became  saturated  with  phrases  and  words  taken 
from  this  source.  Most  of  all,  the  sense  of  sin,  of  the  strug- 
gle between  good  and  evil  that  goes  on  in  a  man's  soul,  be- 
came a  fact  of  every  day  thinking.  Worldly  standards  became 
less  important, — the  magnificence  of  kings  and  courtiers, 
the  deeds  of  knights  of  chivalry,  the  romantic  ideals  of  the 
stories  about  Arthur.  In  the  sight  of  God,  a  king  was  no 
greater  than  a  plowman,  and  was  to  be  tried  by  the  same 
standards. 

Though  it  did  not  appear  until  near  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury, Bunyan's  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  well  illustrates 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Puritans.  The 
author,  a  poor  tinker,  had  been  brought  up  on  the  Bible ; 
his  great  book  is  written  in  the  same  simple  language 
that  we  find  in  the  King  James  Version.  The  Pilgrim's 
Progress  has  been  the  most  widely  read  book  in  England 
excepting  only  the  Bible.  When  he  was  a  lad,  John  Bun- 
yan  saw  visions  of  heaven  and  heard  heavenly  voices.  He 
struggled  with  deep  conviction  of  sin.  He  and  his  little 
family  lived  in  the  greatest  poverty ;  they  possessed  almost 
nothing.  He  became  a  preacher,  and  at  length  was 
thrown  into  prison  because  he  did  not  uphold  the  state 
religion.     For  eleven  years  he  was  in  jail,  his  companions 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        155 

iiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiititiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMniK 

being  men  like  himself,  imprisoned  because  the  govern- 
ment thought  them  dangerous.  "The  parting  with  my  wife 
and  poor  children/'  he  wrote,  "hath  often  been  to  me  in 
this  place  like  the  pulling  of  flesh  from  the  bones,  and  that 
not  only  because  I  am  somewhat  too  fond  of  these  great 
mercies_,  but  also  because  I  should  often  have  brought  to  my 
mind  the  many  hardships,  miseries,  and  wants  that  my  poor 
family  was  like  to  meet  with  should  I  be  taken  from  them, 
especially  my  poor  blind  child  who  lay  nearer  my  heart 
than  all  besides/' 

After  eleven  years  he  was  set  free.  He  had  spent  much 
time,  when  in  prison,  in  writing  tracts,  sermons,  and  stories. 
The  following  selection,  from  The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  ex- 
presses the  spirit  of  the  Puritan  and  his  view  of  life. 


VANITY   FAIR 

JOHN    BUNYAN 

So  Evangelist  began  as  followeth: 

"My  Sons,  you  have  heard,  in  the  words  of  the  truth  of 
the  Gospel,  that  you  must  through  many  tribulations  enter 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  And  again,  that  in  every 
City  bonds  and  afflictions  abide  you;  and  therefore  you 
cannot  expect  that  you  should  go  long  on  your  Pilgrimage 
without  them,  in  some  sort  or  other.  You  have  found 
something  of  the  truth  of  these  testimonies  upon  you  al- 
ready, and  more  will  immediately  follow;  for  now,  as  you 
see,  you  are  almost  out  of  this  Wilderness,  and  therefore 
you  will  soon  come  into  a  Town  that  you  will  by  and  by 
see  before  you ;  and  in  that  Town  you  will  be  hardly  beset 
with  enemies,  who  will  strain  hard  but  they  will  kill  you; 


156  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiniiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiinitiuiniiiiiiniiiniMiinMMiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

and  be  ye  sure  that  one  or  both  of  you  must  seal  the  testi- 
mony which  you  hold,  with  blood ;  but  be  you  faithful  unto 
death,  and  the  King  will  give  you  a  Crown  of  life.  He 
that  shall  die  there,  although  his  death  will  be  unnatural, 
and  his  pain  perhaps  great,  he  will  yet  have  the  better  of 
his  fellow;  not  only  because  he  will  be  arrived  at  the 
Celestial  City  soonest,  but  because  he  will  escape  many 
miseries  that  the  other  will  meet  with  in  the  rest  of  his 
Journey.  But  when  you  are  come  to  the  Town,  and  shall 
find  fulfilled  what  I  have  here  related,  then  remember  your 
friend,  and  quit  yourselves  like  men,  and  commit  the  keep- 
ing of  your  souls  to  your  God  in  well-doing,  as  uhto  a 
faithful  Creator. 

Then  I  saw  in  my  dream,  that  when  they  were  got  out 
of  the  wilderness,  they  presently  saw  a  town  before  them, 
and  the  name  of  that  town  is  Vanity.  And  at  the  town 
there  is  a  fair  kept,  called  Vanity  Fair;  it  is  kept  all  the 
year  long ;  it  beareth  the  name  of  Vanity  Fair,  because  the 
town  where  'tis  kept  is  lighter  than  Vanity;  and  also  be- 
cause all  that  is  there  sold,  or  that  cometh  thither,  is 
Vanity.  As  is  the  saying  of  the  wise,  ''All  that  cometh  is 
Vanity.'' 

This  fair  is  no  new-erected  business,  but  a  thing  of 
ancient  standing ;  I  will  show  you  the  original  of  it. 

Almost  five  thousand  years  agone,  there  were  pilgrims 
walking  to  the  celestial  city,  as  these  two  honest  persons 
are;  and  Beelzebub,  Apollyon,  and  Legion,  with  their  com- 
panions, perceiving  by  the  path  that  the  pilgrims  made, 
that  their  way  to  the  city  lay  through  this  town  of  Vanity, 
they  contrived  here  to  set  up  a  fair ;  a  fair  wherein  should 
be  sold  all  sorts  of  Vanity,  and  that  it  should  last  all  the 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        157 

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year  long:  therefore  at  this  fair  are  all  such  merchandise 
sold,  as  houses,  lands,  trades,  places,  honors,  preferments, 
titles,  countries,  kingdoms,  lusts,  pleasures,  and  delights 
of  all  sorts,  as  lives,  blood,  bodies,  souls,  silver,  gold,  pearls, 
precious  stones,  and  what  not. 

And  moreover,  at  this  fair  there  is  at  all  times  to  be  seen 
jugglings,  cheats,  games,  plays,  fools,  apes,  knaves,  and 
rogues,  and  that  of  all  sorts. 

Here  are  to  be  seen  too,  and  that  for  nothing,  thefts, 
murders,  adulteries,  false-swearers,  and  that  of  a  blood-red 
color. 

And  as  in  other  fairs  of  less  moment  there  are  the  sev- 
eral rows  and  streets  under  their  proper  names,  where 
such  and  such  wares  are  vended,  so  here  likewise  you  have 
the  proper  places,  rows,  streets  (viz.,  countries  and  king- 
doms) where  the  wares  of  this  fair  are  soonest  to  be  found : 
Here  is  the  Britain  Eow,  the  French  Eow,  the  Italian  Eow, 
the  Spanish  Row,  the  German  Row,  where  several  sorts  of 
vanities  are  to  be  sold. 

Now,  as  I  said,  the  way  to  the  celestial  city  lies  just 
through  this  town  where  this  lusty  fair  is  kept;  and  he 
that  will  go  to  the  city,  and  yet  not  go  through  this  town, 
must  needs  go  out  of  the  world.  The  Prince  of  Princes 
himself,  when  here,  went  through  this  town  to  his  own 
country,  and  that  upon  a  fair-day  too ;  yea,  and  as  I  think, 
it  was  Beelzebub,  the  chief  lord  of  this  fair  that  invited 
him  to  buy  of  his  vanities :  yea,  would  have  made  him  lord 
of  the  fair,  would  he  but  have  done  him  reverence  as  he 
went  through  the  town.  Yea,  because  he  was  such  a  per- 
son of  honor,  Beelzebub  had  him  from  street  to  street, 
and  showed  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  in  a  little 


158  Builders  of  Democracy 

time,  that  he  might  (if  possible)  allure  that  Blessed  One 
to  cheapen  and  buy  some  of  his  vanities;  but  he  had  no 
mind  to  the  merchandise,  and  therefore  left  the  town, 
without  laying  out  so  much  as  one  farthing  upon  these 
vanities.  This  fair  therefore  is  an  ancient  thing,  of  long 
standing  and  a  very  great  fair. 

ISTow  these  pilgrims,  as  I  said,  must  needs  go  through 
this  fair.  "Well,  so  they  did;  but  behold,  even  as  they  en- 
tered into  the  fair,  all  the  people  in  the  fair  were  moved, 
and  the  town  itself  as  it  were  in  a  hubbub  about  them ;  and 
that  for  several  reasons :  for 

First :  The  pilgrims  were  clothed  with  such  kind  of  rai- 
ment as  was  diverse  from  the  raiment  of  any  that  traded  in 
that  fair.  The  people  therefore  of  the  fair  made  a  great 
gazing  upon  them:  some  said  they  were  fools,  some  they 
were  bedlams,  and  some  they  were  outlandish-men. 

Secondly:  And  as  they  wondered  at  their  apparel,  so 
they  did  likewise  at  their  speech;  for  few  could  under- 
stand what  they  said :  they  naturally  spoke  the  language  of 
Canaan  but  they  that  kept  the  fair  were  the  men  of  this 
world ;  so  that  from  one  end  of  the  fair  to  the  other  they 
seemed  barbarians  each  to  the  other. 

Thirdly :  But  that  which  did  not  a  little  amuse  the  mer- 
chandisers was,  that  these  pilgrims  set  very  light  by  all 
their  wares ;  they  cared  not  so  much  as  to  look  upon  them ; 
and  if  they  called  upon  them  to  buy,  they  would  put  their 
fingers  in  their  ears,  and  cry,  ''Turn  away  mine  eyes  from 
beholding  vanity,"  and  look  upwards,  signifying  that  their 
trade  and  traffic  was  in  Heaven. 

One  chanced,  mockingly,  beholding  the  carriages  of  the 
men,  to  say  unto  them,  "What  will  ye  buy?"     But  they, 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         159 

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looking  gravely  upon  him,  answered,  '^e  buy  the  Truth." 
At  that  there  was  an  occasion  taken  to  despise  the  men  the 
more;  some  mocking,  some  taunting,  some  speaking  re- 
proachfully, and  some  calling  upon  others  to  smite  them. 
At  last  things  came  to  a  hubbub  and  a  great  stir  in  the 
fair,  insomuch  that  all  order  was  confounded.  Now  was 
word  presently  brought  to  the  great  one  of  the  fair,  who 
quickly  came  down  and  deputed  some  of  his  most  trusty 
friends  to  take  those  men  into  examination,  about  whom 
the  fair  was  almost  overturned.  So  the  men  were  brought 
to  examination;  and  they  that  sat  upon  them,  asked  them 
whence  they  came,  whither  they  went,  and  what  they  did 
there  in  such  an  unusual  garb?  The  men  told  them  that 
they  were  pilgrims  and  strangers  in  the  world,  and  that 
they  were  going  to  their  own  country,  which  was  the  heav- 
enly Jerusalem;  and  that  they  had  given  no  occasion  to 
the  men  of  the  town,  nor  yet  to  the  merchandisers,  thus  to 
abuse  them,  and  to  let  them  in  their  journey,  except  it  was 
for  that,  when  one  asked  them  what  they  would  buy,  they 
said  they  would  buy  the  truth.  But  they  that  were  ap- 
pointed to  examine  them  did  not  believe  them  to  be  any 
other  than  bedlams  and  mad,  or  else  such  as  came  to  put  all 
things  into  a  confusion  in  the  fair.  Therefore  they  took 
them  and  beat  them,  and  besmeared  them  with  dirt,  and 
then  put  them  into  the  cage,  that  they  might  be  made  a 
spectacle  to  all  the  men  of  the  fair.  There  therefore  they 
lay  for  some  time,  and  were  made  the  objects  of  any  man's 
sport,  or  malice,  or  revenge,  the  great  one  of  the  fair  laugh- 
ing still  at  all  that  befell  them.  But  the  men  being  pa- 
tient, and  not  rendering  railing  for  railing,  but  contrari- 
wise blessing,  and  giving  good  words  for  bad,  and  kindness 


160  Builders  of  Democracy 

for  injuries  done,  some  men  in  the  fair  that  were  more 
observing,  and  less  prejudiced  than  the  rest,  began  to  check 
and  blame  the  baser  gort  for  their  continual  abuses  done  by 
them  to  the  men;  they  therefore  in  angry  manner  let  fly 
at  them  again,  counting  them  as  bad  as  the  men  in  the 
cage,  and  telling  them  that  they  seemed  confederates,  and 
should  be  made  partakers  of  their  misfortunes.  The  other 
replied,  that  for  aught  they  could  see,  the  men  were  quiet, 
and  sober,  and  intended  nobody  any  harm;  and  that  there 
were  many  that  traded  in  their  fair  that  were  more  worthy 
to  be  put  into  the  cage,  yea,  and  pillory  too,  than  were  the 
men  that  they  had  abused.  Thus,  after  divers  words  had 
passed  on  both  sides,  (the  men  behaving  themselves  all 
the  while  very  wisely  and  soberly  before  them)  they  fell 
to  some  blows  among  themselves,  and  did  harm  one  to  an- 
other. Then  were  these  two  poor  men  brought  before  their 
examiners  again,  and  there  charged  as  being  guilty  of  the 
late  hubbub  that  had  been  in  the  fair.  So  they  beat  them 
piitifully  and  hanged  irons  upon  them,  and  led  them  in 
chains  up  and  dovm  the  fair,  for  an  example  and  a  terror 
to  others,  lest  any  should  speak  in  their  behalf,  or  join 
themselves  unto  them.  But  Christian  and  Faithful  be- 
haved themselves  yet  more  wisely,  and  received  the  igno- 
miny and  shame  that  were  cast  upon  them,  with  so  much 
meekness  and  patience,  that  it  won  to  their  side  (though 
but  few  in  comparison  of  the  rest)  several  of  the  men  in  the 
fair.  This  put  the  other  party  yet  into  a  greater  rage, 
insomuch  that  they  concluded  the  death  of  these  two  men. 
Wherefore  they  threatened,  that  the  cage,  nor  irons  should 
serve  their  turn,  but  that  they  should  die,  for  the  abuse 
they  had  done,  and  for  deluding  the  men  of  the  fair. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         161 

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Then  were  they  remanded  to  the  cage  again,^  until  fur- 
ther order  should  be  taken  with  them.  So  they  put  them 
in,  and  made  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks. 

Here  also  they  called  again  to  mind  what  they  had  heard 
from  their  faithful  friend  Evangelist,  and  were  the  more 
confirmed  in  their  way  and  sufferings,  by  what  he  told 
them  would  happen  to  them.  They  also  now  comforted 
each  other,  that  whose  lot  it  was  to  suffer,  even  he  should 
have  the  best  of  it ;  therefore  each  man  secretly  wished  that 
he  might  have  that  preferment:  but  committing  them- 
selves to  the  All-wise  dispose  of  Him  that  ruleth  all  things, 
with  much  content  they  abode  in  the  condition  in  which 
they  were,  until  they  should  be  otherwise  disposed  of. 

A  PILGRIM 

JOHN     BUNYAN 

Who  would  true  valor  see 

Let  him  come  hither! 
One  here  will  constant  be. 

Come  wind,  come  weather: 
There's  no  discouragement 
Shall  make  him  once  relent 
His  first  avow'd  intent. 

To  be  a  Pilgrim. 

Who  so  beset  him  round 

With  dismal  stories. 
Do  but  themselves  confound; 

His  strength  the  more  is. 
No  lion  can  him  fright, 
He'll  with  a  giant  fight. 
But  he  will  have  a  right 

To  be  a  Pilgrim. 


162  Builders  of  Democracy 

MHUuuiiiiiMiiimiiiMMiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiinMiiiitniiiniiiiMiHNniiiiiiniMiiMnniiiiitiiiiiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiimiiiH^ 

Hobgoblin,  nor  fonl  fiend, 

Can  daunt  his  spirit; 
He  knows  he  at  the  end 

Shall  Life  inherit. 
Then,  fancies,  fly  away. 
He'll  fear  not  what  men  say, 
He'll  labor,  night  and  day. 

To  be  a  Pilgrim. 


To  such  men  as  these,  political  government  was  subject 
to  the  test  of  righteousness.  Therefore,  when  the  English 
kings  held  that  their  will  was  supreme,  that  no  subject 
might  call  in  question  royal  acts,  that  Englishmen  had  no 
rights  to  share  in  government,  a  conflict  was  certain. 
James  and  Charles  ruled,  so  far  as  they  could,  without 
Parliament.  They  imposed  heavy  and  unjust  taxes  in 
order  to  get  money  for  their  personal  expenses.  They  tried 
to  go  back  to  those  early  times  before  Magna  Charta,  when 
taxes  were  not  voted  by  Parliament,  but  were  imposed  by 
the  will  of  the  king.  What  happened  is  illustrated  by  the 
story  of  John  Hampden. 

In  1636,  this  man,  a  Puritan  country  squire,  refused  to 
pay  an  illegal  tax  called  "ship-money."  Only  twenty 
shillings  were  involved,  but  it  was  the  principle,  not  the 
money,  that  Hampden  and  others  like. him  thought  about, 
just  as  it  was  the  principle  and  not  the  money  involved, 
that  in  a  later  time  led  to  the  Boston  Tea  Party  and  the 
American  Revolution.  Hampden  represented  the  same 
English  spirit  of  independence  that  afterwards  blazed  up 
in  America. 

There  had  been  no  Parliament  for  many  years.  The 
courts  were  in  the  hands  of  the  king.     There  was  small 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         163 

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chance  for  justice  if  a  plain  English  citizen  protested.  Yet 
John  Hampden  appealed  to  the  courts,  and  to  the  surprise 
of  everyone,  five  of  the  twelve  judges  decided  in  his  favor. 
Of  course  the  majority  rule  went  against  him,  hut  it  was 
a  defeat  that  had  the  moral  effect  of  a  victory. 

From  1642  to  1649  there  was  Civil  War,  ending  with 
the  execution  of  Charles  I  and  the  establishment  of  a  gov- 
ernment which  declared  that  "the  people  are  the  source  of 
all  civil  power"  and  that  the  instrument  through  which 
the  people  exercise  their  power  is  the  House  of  Commons. 
Oliver  Cromwell  was  made  Lord  Protector.  Himself  a 
man  of  the  people,  he  had  formed  an  army  of  men  who 
were  not  professional  soldiers,  but  were  deeply  religious, 
"godly  farmers."  They  advanced  to  the  charge  singing 
psalms,  and  they  were  invincible.  Officers  in  the  new  army 
were  not  men  of  noble  blood,  as  in  earlier  times.  A  serv- 
ing man,  or  a  drayman,  or  a  sea-captain,  might  hold  high 
rank. 

A  single  incident  may  be  chosen  to  represent  the  series 
of  battles  that  ended  with  the  triumph  of  Cromwell  and 
the  execution  of  the  king.  The  historian  Green  tells  us 
of  Hampden's  death. 

THE  DEATH  OF  HAMPDEN 

JOHN  RICHARD  GREEN 

It  was  time  for  the  king's  forces  to  think  of  retreat,  for 
Hampden  was  already  in  pursuit.  He  had  slept  at  Watling- 
ton ;  but  the  tidings  of  the  foray  in  the  village  hard  by  roused 
him  from  slumber,  and  he  at  once  despatched  a  trooper  to 
Essex  to  bid  the  Earl  send  foot  and  horse  and  cut  off  the 
Prince  from  Chiselhampton  bridge.    Essex  objected  and  de- 


164  Builders  of  Democracy 

layed  till  Hampden's  patience  broke  down.  The  thought  of 
his  own  village  blazing  in  that  Sunday  dawn,  his  own 
friends  and  tenants  stretched  dead  in  the  village  streets,  car- 
ried him  beyond  all  thought  of  prudence.  A  troop  of  horse 
volunteered  to  follow  him ;  and  few  as  they  were,  he  pushed 
at  once  with  them  for  the  bridge.  The  morning  was  now 
far  gone ;  and  Eupert  had  reached  Chalgrove  Field,  a  broad 
space  without  enclosures,  where  he  had  left  his  foot  drawn 
up  amidst  the  standing  corn  to  secure  his  retreat.  To 
Hampden  the  spot  was  a  memorable  one;  it  was  there,  if 
we  trust  a  royalist  legend,  that  "he  first  mustered  and 
drew  up  men  in  arms  to  rebel  against  the  King."  But  he 
had  little  time  for  memories  such  as  these.  His  resolve 
was  to  hold  Eupert  by  charge  after  charge  till  Essex  could 
come  up ;  and  the  arrival  of  these  troops  of  horse  with  some 
dragoons  enabled  him  to  attack.  The  attack  was  roughly 
beaten  off,  and  the  assailants  thrown  into  confusion,  but 
Hampden  rallied  the  broken  troops  and  again  led  them  on. 
Again  they  were  routed,  and  Eupert  drew  off  across  the 
river  without  further  contest.  It  was  indeed  only  the 
courage  of  Hampden  that  had  fired  his  little  troop  to  face 
the  Cavaliers;  and  he  could  fire  them  no  more.  In  the 
last  charge  a  shot  struck  him  in  the  shoulder  and  disabled 
his  sword-arm.  His  head  bending  down,  his  hands  resting 
on  his  horse's  neck,  he  rode  off  the  field  before  the  action 
was  done,  "a  thing  he  never  used  to  do."  The  story  of  the 
country  side  told  how  the  wounded  man  rode  first  towards 
Pyrton.  It  was  the  village  where  he  had  wedded  the  wife 
he  loved  so  well,  and  beyond  it  among  the  beech-trees  of  the 
Chilterns  lay  his  own  house  of  Hampden.  But  it  was  not 
there  that  he  was  to  die.    A  party  of  loyalists  drove  him 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         165 

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIMIIIIIItMlllllllinilllHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIillinillllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUilll^^^^ 

back  from  Pyrton,  and  turning  northwards  he  paused  for 
a  moment  at  a  little  brook  that  crossed  his  path,  then  gath- 
ering strength  leaped  it,  and  rode  almost  fainting  to 
Thame.  At  first  the  surgeons  gave  hopes  of  his  recovery, 
but  hope  was  soon  over.  For  six  days  he  lay  in  growing 
agony,  sending  counsel  after  counsel  to  the  Parliament, 
till  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June  the  end  drew  near.  "Oh 
Lord,  save  my  country,''  so  ended  Hampden's  prayers; 
"0  Lord,  be  merciful  to  — !"  Here  his  speech  failed  him, 
and  he  fell  back  lifeless  on  his  bed. 

With  arms  reversed  and  muffled  flags,  his  own  men  bore 
him  through  the  lanes  and  woods  he  knew  so  well  to  the 
little  church  that  still  stands  unchanged  beside  his  home. 
On  the  floor  of  its  chancel  the  brasses  of  his  father  and  his 
grandfather  mark  their  graves.  A  step  nearer  to  the  altar, 
unmarked  by  brass  or  epitaph,  lies  the  grave  in  which,  with 
bitter  tears  and  cries,  his  greencoats  laid  the  body  of  the 
leader  whom  they  loved.  "Never  were  heard  such  piteous 
cries  at  the  death  of  one  man  as  at  Master  Hampden's." 
With  him  indeed  all  seemed  lost.  But  bitter  as  were  their 
tears,  a  noble  faith  lifted  these  Puritans  out  of  despair. 
As  they  bore  him  to  his  grave  they  sang,  in  the  words  of 
the  ninetieth  psalm,  how  fleeting  in  the  sight  of  the  Divine 
Eternity  is  the  life  of  man.  But  as  they  turned  away  the 
yet  nobler  words  of  the  forty-third  psalm  broke  from  their 
lips,  as  they  prayed  that  the  God  who  had  smitten  them 
would  send  out  anew  His  light  and  His  truth,  that  they 
might  lead  them  and  bring  them  to  His  holy  hill.  "Why 
art  thou  cast  down,  0  my  soul,  and  why  art  thou  so  dis- 
quieted within  me?  Hope  in  God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise 
him,  which  is  the  help  of  my  countenance  and  my  God!" 


166  Builders  of  Democracy 

■muiiiuiiMiiiiiiinMiiMiiMiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiunMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiNiiiiiiniiiiiiiiuiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 
A  POET   WHO   FOUGHT   FOR  FREEDOM 

Among  the  Builders  of  Democracy  during  this  period 
none  stands  higher  on  the  honor  roll  of  fame  than  John 
Milton.  Born  in  1608,  given  a  splendid  education  in  prep- 
aration for  the  work  to  which  he  early  felt  himself  called 
— the  writing  of  poetry — he  went  to  Italy  to  complete  his 
training.  He  had  already  written  poems  that  had  attracted 
wide  attention  and  that  showed  the  bent  of  his  mind  to- 
wards liberty  and  virtue.  In  one  of  these,  Comus  by  name, 
he  tells  of  a  girl  who  was  captured  by  a  wicked  enchanter. 
Her  two  brothers  search  for  her  throughout  the  woods  in 
vain.  Meantime,  the  magician  places  her  in  an  enchanted 
chair  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  palace.  Soft  music,  de- 
lightful foods  to  tempt  her  appetite,  lovely  surroundings  of 
every  sort  are  brought  to  bear  in  order  to  win  her  surren- 
der. She  spurns  all  these,  and  attempts  to  rise  from  the 
chair.  Then  Comus  tells  her  his  power.  If  he  should  but 
wave  his  wand,  he  says,  she  would  be  as  helpless  as  if 
turned  to  marble.  But  to  this  she  replies  that  though  he 
may  indeed  imprison  her  or  kill  her: 

"Thou  canst  not  touch  the  freedom  of  my  mind." 

These  words  give  us  the  keynote  to  Milton's  thought, 
and  to  the  impulse  which  led  to  the  great  war  for  freedom 
in  England  in  the  seventeenth  century  and  to  the  founding 
of  the  colonies  in  America.  The  freedom  of  the  mind  is 
the  one  precious  thing ;  it  is  beyond  reach  of  tyrants  unless 
men  tamely  surrender. 

So  Milton  was  preparing  for  a  poet's  life,  feeling  within 
himself  the  sense  of  power.     When  he  was  twenty-three 


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years  of  age  he  wrote  a  poem  which  shows  his  dissatisfac- 
tion with  his  apparent  idleness,  and  also  his  self-devotion. 

How  soon  hath  Time,  that  subtle  thief  of  youth, 

Stolen  on  his  wing  my  three  and  twentieth  year. 

My  hasting  days  fly  on  with  full  career, 

But  my  late  spring  no  bud  or  blossom  shew'th. 

Perhaps  my  semblance  might  deceive  the  truth 

That  I  to  manhood  am  arrived  so  near; 

And  inward  ripeness  doth  much  less  appear, 

That  some  more  timely-happy  spirits  endu'th. 

Yet  be  it  less  or  more,  or  soon  or  slow, 

It  shall  be  still  in  strictest  measure  even 

To  that  same  lot,  however  mean  or  high. 

Toward  which  time  leads  me,  and  the  will  of  Heaven; 

All  is,  if  I  have  grace  to  use  it  so. 

As  ever  in  my  great  Task-Master's  eye. 


When  he  was  traveling  in  Italy,  news  reached  him  that 
the  struggle  in  England  had  led  to  war.  He  at  once  came 
home,  saying:  "I  thought  it  ill  for  me  to  be  traveling 
at  ease  in  foreign  parts,  while  my  countrymen  were  strik- 
ing a  blow  for  freedom."  At  first  he  taught  a  little  school, 
where  he  trained  boys  for  citizenship.  "I  call  a  complete 
and  generous  education," 'he  said,  "that  which  fits  a  man 
to  perform  justly,  skillfully,  and  magnanimously  all  the 
oflBces,  both  private  and  public,  of  peace  and  war." 

Later,  he  became  Latin  Secretary  to  Cromwell,  an  office 
in  which  he  carried  on  correspondence  with  foreign  gov- 
ernments and  with  many  important  men.  The  foreign  re- 
lations of  England  at  this  time  were  very  complicated.  No 
previous  ruler  of  England  had  been  so  widely  known  and 
respected  throughout  Europe  as  Cromwell  was.     When  in 


168  Builders  of  Democracy 


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1655  a  colony  of  Protestants  living  in  Southern  France  were 
exterminated  because  of  their  refusal  to  accept  a  state  re- 
ligion, Cromwell  sent  an  English  envoy  to  threaten  instant 
war  unless  atonement  were  made.  The  atrocity  which  set 
English  blood  boiling  was  of  the  same  kind  that  has  been 
made  familiar  to  us  during  the  present  war,  for  example 
through  the  frightful  massacres  of  Armenians  under  Ger- 
man auspices.  When  the  English  ambassador  appeared 
before  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  who  was  responsible  for  the  out- 
rages, he  bore  a  letter  signed  by  Cromwell  but  written  by 
John  Milton.  What  Milton  thought  of  the  massacre  he  has 
explained  also  in  a  poem : 

Avenge,  0  Lord,  thy  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold ; 
Even  them  who  kept  thy  truth  so  pure  of  old. 
When  all  our  fathers  worshiped  stocks  and  stones. 

Forget  not :  in  thy  book  record  their  groans 
Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold 
Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.    Their  moans 

The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 
To  heaven. 

All  through  his  life,  Milton  was  passionately  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  liberty.  In  a  poem  addressed  to  Cromwell,  he 
praises  the  great  general  for  the  victories  he  has  won,  but 
warns  him  about  the  dangers  of  a  new  tyranny : 

Cromwell,  our  chief  of  men,  who  through  a  cloud 

Not  of  war  only,  but  detractions  rude, 

Guided  by  faith  and  matchless  fortitude, 

To  peace  and  truth  thy  glorious  way  hast  plowed. 


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And  on  the  neck  of  crowned  fortune  proud 

Hath  reared  God's  trophies,  and  his  work  pursued, — 

*  *  *  yet  much  remains 

To  conquer  still ;  Peace  hath  her  victories 

No  less  renowned  than  war:  new  foes  arise, 

Threatening  to  bind  our  souls. 

He  speaks,  in  one  of  the  last  poems  that  he  wrote,  of 
strenuous  liberty,  by  which  he  means  that  liberty,  when 
won,  must  be  guarded : 

What  more  in  nations  grown  corrupt 
Than  to  love  bondage  more  than  liberty. 
Bondage  with  ease  than  strenuous  liberty. 

He  has  no  fear  of  tyranny  or  of  error  if  only  men  fight  for 
the  truth :  "Who  knows  not,''  he  says,  "that  truth  is  strong 
next  to  the  Almighty/' 

It  was  in  the  same  heroic  spirit  that  Milton  fought  with 
the  greatest  disaster  that  could  come  upon  him — the  loss 
of  his  sight.  Even  in  youth,  he  had  determined  "by  long 
study"  to  write  one  day  a  poem  that  the  world  would  not 
willingly  let  die.  "You  ask  me,  Charles,"  he  wrote  as  a 
boy  to  his  dearest  friend,  "you  ask  me  of  what  I  am  think- 
ing. I  think,  so  help  me  Heaven,  of  Immortality !"  Yet  he 
had  given  up  his  studies  and  devoted  himself  through  many 
years  to  rendering  what  assistance  he  could  to  the  cause 
of  liberty.  His  action  in  this  respect  reminds  one  of  the 
generous  self-sacrifice  with  which  many  American  busi- 
ness men,  during  the  present  war,  have  given  up  their  busi- 
ness affairs  to  become  "dollar  a  year"  men  in  the  service 
of  the  government.  Yet  Milton  gave  more  than  they.  His 
task  was  laborious;  it  brought  him  little  recognition  or 
thanks;  it  cost  him  his  sight.     When  they  told  him  that 


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unless  he  gave  up  his  government  work  he  would  soon  be 
blind,  he  never  hesitated.  What  he  felt,  the  following 
lines  indicate: 

When  I  consider  how  my  light  is  spent 

Ere  half  my  days,  in  this  dark  world  and  wide, 
And  that  one  talent  which  is  death  to  hide 
Lodged  with  me  useless,  though  my  soul  more  bent 

To  serve  therewith  my  Maker,  and  present 
My  true  account,  lest  he  returning  chide ; 
"Doth  God  exact  day-labor,  light  denied  ?" 
I  fondly  ask.    But  Patience,  to  prevent 

That  murmur,  soon  replies,  "God  does  not  need 
Either  man's  work  or  his  own  gifts.    Who  best 
Bear  his  mild  yoke,  they  serve  him  best.    His  state 

Is  kingly :  thousands  at  his  bidding  speed. 
And  post  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest ; 
They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait." 

Three  years  later,  he  wrote  to  a  friend : 

Cyriack,  this  three  years'  day  these  eyes,  though  clear 

To  outward  view,  of  blemish  or  of  spot. 

Bereft  of  light,  their  seeing  have  forgot ; 

Nor  to  their  idle  orbs  doth  sight  appear 

Of  sun  or  moon  or  star  throughout  the  year. 

Or  man  or  woman.     Yet  I  argue  not 

Against  Heaven's  hand  or  will,  nor  bate  a  jot 

Of  heart  or  hope,  but  still  bear  up  and  steer 

Eight  onward.    What  supports  me,  dost  thou  ask  ? 

The  conscience,  friend,  to  have  lost  them  overplied 

In  liberty's  defense. 

"In  liberty's  defense !"  Such  was  John  Milton's  watch- 
word, as  it  is  the  watchword  of  America  in  the  present 
war.  Let  none  think  that  America  is  inconsistent  in  war- 
ring by  England's  side  in  this  new  straggle  for  liberty. 


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England  has  always  warred  for  liberty.  John  Milton  is 
far  more  truly  representative  of  England  than  Lord  North 
or  George  III,  against  whose  government,  and  not  against 
the  English  people,  our  fathers  fought  at  Concord  and 
Lexington.  America  stands  by  England's  side,  as  she 
should,  and  if  England's  heroic  dead  could  come  back  to 
?ee  these  brothers  in  arms  warring  on  tyranny  and  error 
in  the  greatest  of  all  conflicts,  none  would  rejoice  more 
than  John  Milton,  the  heroic  Builder  who  forgot  self, 
forgot  his  career,  forgot  what  he  thought  was  his  mission 
on  earth,  "in  liberty's  defense."  Proof  of  this,  and  a 
splendid  statement  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  that  is  the 
\  ery  basis  of  the  thought  of  the  Allies  in  the  present  war, 
Milton  himself  gives  us.  His  thought  was  far  in  advance 
of  his  time;  we  are  just  in  process  of  making  it  reality. 
"Who  knows  not,"  he  says,  "that  there  is  a  mutual  bond 
of  amity  and  brotherhood  between  man  and  man  over  all 
the  world,  neither  is  it  the  English  sea  that  can  sever  lis 
from  that  duty  and  relation.  Nor  is  it  distance  of  place 
that  makes  enmity,  but  enmity  that  makes  distance.  He, 
therefore,  that  keeps  peace  with  me,  near  or  remote,  of 
whatsoever  nation,  is  to  me,  as  far  as  all  civil  and  human 
offices,  an  Englishman  and  a  neighbor.  This  is  Gospel, 
and  this  was  ever  law  among  equals." 

VIII 

OF  A  BILL  OF  RIGHTS  WHICH  MADE  PARLIAMENT  SUPREME, 
AND  OF  A  COMPACT  IN  A  SHIP'S  CABIN  WHICH  MADE  THE 
PEOPLE  SUPREME.  AND  OF  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  A  NEW 
LIBERTY  IN  AMERICA. 

Building  the  House  of  Liberty  is  a  slow  process.     Some 
victory  is  won  over  an  enemy,  and  it  seems  that  the  strug- 


172  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiininiiMiiiiiiiniiuiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiniiuniiiiiiiiiuiiiniiiiNiiiiiMiniiMuniiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiu 

gle  is  over,  but  one  day  the  giant  with  the  shackles  appears 
once  more,  some  Comns  with  his  enchantments,  and  seem- 
ingly all  the  weary  road  must  be  retraced. 

So  it  was  with  CromwelPs  England.  The  Lord  Pro- 
tector ruled,  not  as  a  democratic  president,  but  as  a  vic- 
torious general.  Many  evils  were  corrected.  England 
prospered,  and  her  fame  increased.  But  in  1660  the  king- 
ship was  restored,  and  with  it  the  struggle  between  crown 
and  people.  Charles  II,  the  new  king,  was  surrounded 
by  a  mob  of  pleasure-seekers.  He  not  only  did  all  he  could 
to  overthrow  English  liberty  but  also  aided  Louis  XIV  of 
France  in  his  efforts  to  crush  Protestantism  in  Europe. 
James  II,  who  succeeded  in  1685,  ruled  badly,  so  that  in 

1688  William  of  Orange  was  invited  to  the  throne.     In 

1689  the  famous  Bill  of  Eights  was  adopted,  and.  with  it 
the  triumph  of  Parliament  was  forever  assured. 

■  By  the  Bill  of  Eights,  the  King  is  subject  to  Parliament 
and  the  laws  of  the  realm;  he  is  not  a  master  ruling  by 
divins  right.  That  is,  he  is  only  an  official  who  rules  by 
the  consent  of  the  people.  If  he  rules  badly,  he  may  be 
removed  by  the  people.  The  ancient  idea  of  the  king  as 
a  sort  of  priest,  representative  of  God,  who  can  do  no 
wrong,  whose  voice  is  the  voice  of  God,  an  arbitrary  des- 
pot,— this  idea  survives  in  Germany.  In  England  it  has 
been  dead  and.  buried  for  more  than  two  hundred  years. 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth  had  established  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  the  love  of  country  and  the  belief  }n  the  nation's 
power.  The  long  struggle  between  the  Parliament  and  the 
kings  in  the  seventeenth  century  established  firmly  this 
principle  of  representative  rule,  the  right  of  the  people  to 
govern  themselves.     One  thing  remained.     Who  are  the 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         173 

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people?     Are  they  the  nobility  and  gentry  alone?     What 
are  the  rights  of  the  common  man? 
The  answer  came  from  America. 

Twelve  hundred  years  after  the  Angles  and  Saxons, 
bearing  with  them  their  song  of  Beowulf  and  of  his  service, 
sought  a  new  home  in  England,  other  shiploads  of  travel- 
ers sailed  out  over  the  Atlantic.  Captain  John  Smith, 
with  a  company  of  something  more  than  a  hundred,  estab- 
lished a  settlement  at  Jamestown  in  1607.  Unlike  the 
Spanish  adventurers,  who  sought  only  gold  and  jewels, 
these  Englishmen  were  prepared  to  develop  the  new  coun- 
try as  a  permanent  home.  "Nothing  is  to  be  expected," 
Smith  warned  them,  "but  by  labor."  So  "men  fell  to 
building  houses  and  planting  com."  In  fifteen  years  the 
hundred  colonists  had  grown  to  five  thousand. 

A  little  later  a  group  of  men  and  women  who  had  been 
compelled  because  of  religious  persecution  to  leave  Eng- 
land, set  sail  for  the  New  "World.  One  of  them  wrote: 
"We  are  well-weaned  from  the  delicate  milk  of  the  mother- 
country,  and  inured  to  the  difficulties  of  a  strange  land. 
The  people  are  industrious  and  frugal.  It  is  not  with  us 
as  with  men  whom  small  things  can  discourage."  In  1620 
the  Plymouth  plantation  was  founded,  in  the  depths  of 
a  long  winter,  facing  sickness  and  hunger.  They  were 
sustained  by  their  hope  that  freedom  of  thought  and  gov- 
ernment might  here  be  safe.  It  cost  them  much  to  leave 
the  England  that  they  loved.  "Farewell,  dear  England!" 
they  said ;  "our  hearts  shall  be  fountains  of  tears  for  your 
everlasting  welfare,  when  we  shall  be  in  our  poor  cottages 
in  the  wilderness." 


174  Builders  of  Democracy 

mniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiiniiuniiiiiiMiiiiniriiiriiiiiiiiMniMriiiiniiiiMiiiiiiMiiMinniiiniiiiiiiniiiniiininiriin^ 

THE  LANDING  OF  THE  PILGRIM   FATHERS  IN 
NEW  ENGLAND 

FELICIA    HEMANS 
1 

The  breaking  waves  dashed  high 
On  a  stern  and  rock-bound  coast. 

And  the  woods  against  a  stormy  sky 
Their  giant  branches  tossed ; 

2 

And  the  heavy  night  hung  dark 

The  hills  and  waters  o'er, 
When  a  band  of  exiles  moored  their  bark 

On  the  wild  New  England  shore. 

3 

Not  as  the  conqueror  comes, 
They,  the  true-hearted,  came ; 

Not  with  the  roll  of  the  stirring  drums. 
And  the  trumpet  that  sings  of  fame ; 

4 
Not  as  the  flying  come. 

In  silence  and  in  fear;- — 
They  shook  the  depths  of  the  desert  gloom — 

With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer. 

5 
Amidst  the  storm  they  sang, 

And  the  stars  heard  and  the  sea ; 
And  the  sounding  aisles  of  the  dim  woods  rang 

To  the  anthem  of  the  free ! 

6 

The  ocean  eagle  soared 
From  his  nest  by  the  white  wave's  foam ; 
And  the  rocking  pines  of  the  forest  roared — 
This  was  their  welcome  home ! 


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7 
There  were  men  with  hoary  hair 

Amidst  that  pilgrim  band ; — 
Why  had  thetj  come  to  wither  there, 

Away  from  their  childhood's  land? 

8 

There  was  woman's  fearless  eye. 

Lit  by  her  deep  love's  truth : 
There  was  manhood's  brow  serenely  high, 

And  the  fiery  heart  of  youth. 

9 

What  sought  they  thus  afar? — 

Bright  jewels  of  the  mine  ? 
The  wealth  of  seas,  the  spoils  of  war  ? — 

They  sought  a  faith's  pure  shrine ! 

10 
Ay,  call  it  holy  ground, 

The  soil  where  first  they  trod. 
They  have  left  unstained  what  there  they 
found — 
Freedom  to  worship  God. 

Before  the  Mayflower  landed  there  occurred  an  incident 
filled  with  deep  significance.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  sailed 
under  a  '^patent"  or  agreement  issued  by  the  King,  which 
provided  for  colonization  in  Virginia.  But  they  were  plan- 
ning to  set  up  their  colony  north  of  the  Jamestown  settle- 
ment, outside  its  boundaries.  The  historian  of  the  colony, 
William  Bradford,  tells  us  that  some  people  in  the  ship 
said  that  "when  they  came  ashore  they  would  use  their 
own  liberty;  for  none  had  power  to  command  them,  the 
patent  they  had  being  for  Virginia,  and  not  for  New 
England."  So  the  leaders  of  the  party,  learning  of  these 
plans  for  throwing  off  all  restraint  and  fearing  that  the 


176  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiniiiiniuiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiMiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiniiMiiiMiiMtitniiiiiu 

evil  might  spread,  called  a  meeting  of  the  passengers  and 
drew  up  what  they  called  a  "combination/'  or  compact,  for 
their  government  in  their  new  home. 

Do  yon  see  this  picture  of  the  founding  of  free  govern- 
ment in  America?  The  little  ship  tossing  upon  the  waves 
of  the  Atlantic  in  winter;  the  little  cabin  filled  with  a 
small  group  of  men  and  women  and  children,  poorly 
clothed  and  fed,  exiles  from  the  land  they  loved,  going  to 
a  strange  country  filled  with  they  knew  not  what  perils ; 
these  people,  in  these  hard  circumstances,  gathering  into 
a  meeting  of  citizens,  drawing  up  and  voting  upon  a  rude 
constitution  for  their  government. 

It  is  an  inspiring  and  affecting  sight — this  Building  of 
Democracy, — more  dramatic  even  than  that  gathering  so 
many  centuries  before  at  Runnymede.  And  Bradford's 
comment  on  what  they  did  contains  the  whole  doctrine  of 
free  government.  They  did  this  thing,  he  says,  in  the 
belief  'HhaJ;  such  an  act  ly  them  done  {this  their  condition 
considered)  might  he  as  firm  as  any  patent,  and  in  some 
respects  more  sure." 

A  patent  is  a  permission  given  by  a  king,  setting  forth 
the  rules  to  be  followed,  the  conditions  to  be  met,  the  price 
to  be  paid.  The  Compact  was  a  voluntary  agreement 
among  a  group  of  people,  setting  restraints  by  their  own 
will  upon  themselves.  It  was  an  instrument  of  govern- 
ment, that  is  of  discipline  and  control.  But  it  was  also 
proof  of  freedom,  for  they  entered  into  it  freely,  without 
constraint.     Thus  was  free  government  established. 

And  the  people  were  all  those  who  entered  into  the 
agreement  for  living  with  one  another  in  friendly  co- 
operation. 


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THE  COMPACT  OF  THE  PILGRIMS 

In  the  name  of  God,  amen.  We  whose  names  are  under- 
written .  .  .  having  undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith  and  honor  of  our 
king  and  country,  a  voyage  to  plant  the  first  colony  in  the 
northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do  by  these  presents  solemnly 
and  mutually  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  one  another, 
covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a  civil  body 
politic,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation  and  fur- 
therance of  the  ends  aforesaid;  and  by  virtue  hereof  to 
enact,  constitute,  and  frame,  such  just  and  equal  laws, 
ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and  offices,  from  time  to 
time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient  for 
the  general  good  of  the  colony,  unto  which  we  promise  all 
due  submission  and  obedience.  In  witness  whereof  we  have 
hereunder  subscribed  our  names  at  Cape  Cod  the  11th  of 
November,  a.  d.  1620. 

These  Builders  laid  the  foundations  of  Democracy  in 
America. 

IX 

SOME  FURTHER  EXAMPLES  OF  THE  BUILDING  IN  AMERICA, 
AND  OF  ITS  LIKENESS  TO  THE  BUILDING  IN  ENGLAND. 
AND  AFTER  THIS,  THE  STORY  OF  THE  FIRST  APPEARANCE 
OF  THE  GRAY  CHAMPION. 

We  have  seen  that  the  founding  of  Liberty  in  America 
was  closely  related  to  the  struggle  that  was  going  on  in 
England  between  the  Parliament  and  the  Stuart  kings. 
During  the  English  Civil  War  and  the  period  of  Cromwell's 
rule,  the  new  colonies  had  ample  opportunity  to  set  up  plans 
of  government  suggested  by  the  Compact  of  the  Pilgrims. 
The  New  England  town  meeting  was  built  on  the  founda- 


178  Builders  of  Democracy 

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tion  laid  centuries  before  in  the  tun-moot  of  our  ances- 
tors, but  during  the  early  days  of  American  colonial  his- 
tory many  experiments  in  truly  popular  government  could 
be  tested  without  the  interference  of  a  selfish  and  tyranni- 
cal over-lord  or  king.  Thus  the  colonies  grew  in  wealth, 
population,  and  love  of  freedom. 

But  with  the  restoration  of  the  Stuart  kings  in  1660, 
the  liberties  of  the  colonists  were  in  deadly  peril.  The 
struggle  that  went  on  within  the  mother  country  was  re- 
flected on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  In  1686  Sir  Edmund 
Andros  was  appointed  Governor-General  of  the  two  Mas- 
sachusetts colonies.  He  added  New  York  and  Virginia  to 
his  realm ;  then  Delaware,  Connecticut,  Ehode  Island,  New 
Jersey.  His  plan  was  to  reduce  the  whole  territory  of 
America,  all  the  independent  self-governing  colonies,  to  a 
single  state  over  which  his  rule  would  be  practically  that 
of  a  king. 

Therefore,  the  "Glorious  Eevolution  of  1688,''  as  it  has 
been  called,  which  with  the  Bill  of  Rights  put  the  king  in 
his  place,  and  ended  the  long  struggle  between  crown  and 
parliament,  was  as  important  in  America  as  it  was  in  Eng- 
land. An  insurrection  in  Boston  put  an  end  to  the  rule 
of  Andros.  The  people  seized  the  governor,  the  fort,  and 
a  British  armed  frigate,  and  returned  to  their. old  form 
of  government. 

These  stirring  events  are  brought  vividly  before  us 
through  a  story  by  a  great  American  writer,  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne.  The  story  is  based  on  tradition  only,  but  it 
is  true  ■  to  the  spirit  of  the  times.  Hawthorne  nses  the 
legend  of  the  Gray  Champion  as  a  symbol  of  the  spirit  of 
Liberty    in   the   Colonies.      The  opening   paragraphs   ex- 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         179 

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plain  the  situation,  and  at  the  end  we  have  the  suggestion 
of  the  appearance  of  the  champion  during  the  war  with 
England.  Perhaps  the  venerable  spirit  may  appear  among 
General  Pershing's  men  in  France.  At  any  rate,  he  speaks 
to  all  our  hearts  in  this  new  war  against  despotism. 


THE  GRAY  CHAMPION 

NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 

There  was  once  a  time  when  New  England  groaned 
under  the  actual  pressure  of  heavier  wrongs  than  those 
threatened  ones  which  brought  on  the  Revolution.  James 
II,  the  bigoted  successor  of  Charles  the  Voluptuous,  had 
annulled  the  charters  of  all  the  colonies,  and  sent  a  harsh 
and  unprincipled  soldier  to  take  away  our  liberties  and 
endanger  our  religion.  The  administration  of  Sir  Ed- 
mund Andros  lacked  scarcely  a  single  characteristic  of 
tyranny:  a  Governor  and  Council,  holding  office  from  the 
King,  and  wholly  independent  of  the  country;  laws  made 
and  taxes  levied  without  concurrence  of  the  people,  imme- 
diate or  by  their  representatives ;  the  rights  of  private  citi- 
zens violated,  and  the  titles  of  all  landed  property  declared 
void;  the  voice  of  complaint  stifled  by  restriction  on  the 
press;  and,  finally,  disaffection  overawed  by  the  first  band 
of  mercenary  troops  that  ever  marched  on  our  free  soil. 
For  two  years  our  ancestors  were  kept  in  sullen  submission 
by  that  filial  love  which  had  invariably  secured  their  alle- 
giance to  the  mother  country,  whether  its  head  chanced 
to  be  a  Parliament,  Protector,  or  Popish  Monarch.  Till 
these  evil  times,  however,  such  allegiance  had  been  merely 
nominal,  and  the  colonists  had  ruled  themselves,  enjoying 


180  Builders  of  Democracy 

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far  more  freedom  than  is  even  yet  the  privilege  of  the 
native  subjects  of  Great  Britain. 

At  length  a  rumor  reached  our  shores  that  the  Prince  of 
Orange  had  ventured  on  an  enterprise  the  success  of  which 
would  be  the  triumph  of  civil  and  religious  rights  and  the 
salvation  of  New  England.  It  was  but  a  doubtful  whisper , 
it  might  be  false,  or  the  attempt  might  fail ;  and,  in  either 
case,  the  man  that  stirred  against  King  James  would  lose 
his  head.  Still,  the  intelligence  produced  a  marked  effect. 
The  people  smiled  mysteriously  in  the  streets,  and  threw 
bold  glances  at  their  oppressors ;  while,  far  and  wide,  there 
was  a  subdued  and  silent  agitation,  as  if  the  slightest  signal 
would  rouse  the  whole  land  from  its  sluggish  despondency. 
Aware  of  their  danger,  the  rulers  resolved  to  avert  it  by  an 
imposing  display  of  strength,  and  perhaps  to  confirm  their 
despotism  by  yet  harsher  measures.  One  afternoon  in 
April,  1689,  Sir  Edmund  Andros  and  his  favorite  council- 
ors, being  warm  with  wine,  assembled  the  redcoats  of  the 
Grovemor's  Guard,  and  made  their  appearance  in  the  streets 
of  Boston.  The  sun  was  near  setting  when  the  march 
commenced. 

The  roll  of  the  drum,  at  that  unquiet  crisis,  seemed  to  go 
through  the  streets,  less  as  the  martial  music  of  the  soldiers, 
than  as  a  muster-call  to  the  inhabitants  themselves.  A 
multitude,  by  various  avenues,  assembled  in  King  Street, 
which  was  destined  to  be  the  scene,  nearly  a  century  after- 
wards, of  another  encounter  between  the  troops  of  Britain 
and  a  people  struggling  against  her  tyranny.  Though  more 
than  sixty  years  had  elapsed  since  the  Pilgrims  came,  this 
crowd  of  their  descendants  still  showed  the  strong  and 
somber  features  of  their  character,  perhaps  more  strikingly 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         181 

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in  such  a  stern  emergency  than  on  happier  occasions.  There 
was  the  sober  garb,  the  general  severity  of  mien,  the  gloomy 
but  undismayed  expression,  the  Scriptural  forms  of  speech, 
and  the  confidence  in  Heaven's  blessing  on  a  righteous 
cause,  which  would  have  marked  a  band  of  the  original 
Puritans,  when  threatened  by  some  peril  of  the  wilderness. 
Indeed,  it  was  not  yet  time  f oi:  the  old  spirit  to  be  extinct ; 
since  there  were  men  in  the  street,  that  day,  who  had  wor- 
shiped there  beneath  the  trees,  before  a  house  was  reared 
to  the  God  for  whom  they  had  become  exiles.  Old  soldiers 
of  the  Parliament  were  here,  too,  smiling  grimly  at  the 
thought,  that  their  aged  arms  might  strike  another  blow 
against  the  house  of  Stuart.  Here,  also,  were  the  veterans 
of  King  Philip's  war,  who  had  burned  villages  and  slaugh- 
tered young  and  old,  with  pious  fierceness,  while  the  godly 
souls  throughout  the  land  were  helping  them  with  praj'er. 
Several  ministers  were  scattered  among  the  crowd,  which, 
unlike  all  other  mobs,  regarded  them  with  such  reverence 
as  if  there  were  sanctity  in  their  very  garments.  These 
holy  men  exerted  their  influence  to  quiet  the  people,  but 
not  to  disperse  them.  Meantime,  the  purpose  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, in  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  town,  at  a  period  when 
the  slightest  commotion  might  throw  the  country  into  a 
ferment,  was  almost  the  universal  subject  of  inquiry,  and 
variously  explained. 

"Satan  will  strike  his  master-stroke  presently,"  cried 
some,  'T^ecause  he  knoweth  that  his  time  is  short.  All  our 
godly  pastors  are  to  be  dragged  to  prison!  We  shall  see 
them  at  a  Smithfield  fire  in  King  Street !" 

Hereupon  the  people  of  each  parish  gathered  closer  round 
their  minister,  who  looked  calmly  upwards  and  assumed  a 


182  Builders  of  Democracy 

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more  apostolic  dignity,  as  well  befitted  a  candidate  for  the 
highest  honor  of  his  profession,  the  crown  of  martyrdom. 
It  was  actually  fancied,  at  that  period,  that  New  England 
might  have  a  John  Rogers  of  her  own,  to  take  the  place 
of  that  worthy  in  the  Primer. 

''The  Pope  of  Rome  has  given  orders  for  a  new  St.  Bar- 
tholomew!'' cried  others.  ''We  are  to  be  massacred,  man 
and  male  child!" 

Neither  was  this  rumor  wholly  discredited,  although  the 
wiser  class  believed  the  Grovemor's  object  somewhat  less 
atrocious.  His  predecessor  under  the  old  charter,  Brad- 
street,  a  venerable  companion  of  the  first  settlers,  was 
known  to  be  in  town.  There  were  grounds  for  conjectur- 
ing that  Sir  Edmund  Andros  intended,  at  once,  to  strike 
terror,  by  a  parade  of  military  force,  and  to  confound  the 
opposite  faction  by  possessing  himself  of  their  chief. 

"Stand  firm  for  the  old  charter.  Governor !"  shouted  the 
crowd,  seizing  upon  the  idea.  "The  good  old  Governor 
Bradstreet!" 

While  this  cry  was  at  the  loudest,  the  people  were  sur- 
prised by  the  well-known  figure  of  Governor"  Bradstreet 
himself,  a  patriarch  of  nearly  ninety,  who  appeared  on  the 
elevated  steps  of  a  door,  and,  with  characteristic  mildness, 
besought  them  to  submit  to  the  constituted  authorities. 

"My  children,'^  concluded  this  venerable  person,  "do 
nothing  rashly.  Cry  not  aloud,  but  pray  for  the  welfare 
of  New  England,  and  expect  patiently  what  the  Lord  will 
do  in  this  matter !" 

The  event  was  soon  to  be  decided.  All  this  time  the  roll 
of  the  drum  had  been  approaching  through  Cornhill,  louder 
and  deeper,  till  with  reverberations  from  house  to  house. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         183 

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and  the  regular  tramp  of  martial  footsteps,  it  burst  into  the 
street.  A  double  rank  of  soldiers  made  their  appearance, 
occupying  the  whole  breadth  of  the  passage,  with  should- 
ered matchlocks,  and  matches  burning,  so  as  to  present  a 
row  of  fires  in  the  dusk.  Their  steady  march  was  like  the 
progress  of  a  machine,  that  would  roll  irresistibly  over 
everything  in  its  way.  Next,  moving  slowly,  with  a  con- 
fused clatter  of  hoofs  on  the  pavement,  rode  a  party  of 
mounted  gentlemen,  the  central  figure  being  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,  elderly,  but  erect  and  soldier-like.  Those  around 
him  were  his  favorite  counsellors,  and  the  bitterest  foes  of 
New  England.  At  his  right  hand  rode  Edward  Handolph 
our  arch-enemy,  that  "blasted  wretch,"  as  Cotton  Mather 
calls  him,  who  achieved  the  downfall  of  our  ancient  govern- 
ment, and  was  followed  with  a  sensible  curse,  through  life 
and  to  his  grave.  On  the  other  side  was  Bullivant,  scatter- 
ing jests  and  mockery  as  he  rode  along.  Dudley  came  be- 
hind, with  a  downcast  look,  dreading,  as  well  he  might,  to 
meet  the  indignant  gaze  of  the  people,  who  beheld  him, 
their  only  countryman  by  birth,  among  the  oppressors  of 
his  native  land.  The  captain  of  a  frigate  in  the  harbor, 
and  two  or  three  civil  officers  under  the  Crown,  were  also 
there.  But  the  figure  which  most  attracted  the  public  eye, 
and  stirred  up  the  deepest  feeling,  was  the  Episcopal  clergy- 
man of  King's  Chapel,  riding  haughtily  among  the  magis- 
trates in  his  priestly  vestments,  the  fitting  representative 
of  prelacy  and  persecution,  the  union  of  Church  and  State, 
and  all  those  abominations  which  had  driven  the  Puritans 
to  the  wilderness.  Another  guard  of  soldiers,  in  double 
rank,  brought  up  the  rear. 

The  whole  scene  was  a  picture  of  the  condition  of  New 


184  Builders  of  Democracy 

England,  and  its  moral,  the  deformity  of  any  government 
that  does  not  grow  out  of  the  nature  of  things  and  the 
character  of  the  people.  On  one  side  the  religious  multi- 
tude, with  their  sad  visages  and  dark  attire,  and  on  the 
other^  the  group  of  despotic  rulers,  with  the  High-Church- 
man in  the  midst,  and  here  and  there  a  crucifix  at  their 
bosoms,  all  magnificently  clad,  flushed  with  wine,  proud 
of  unjust  authority,  and  scoffing  at  the  universal  groan. 
And  the  mercenary  soldiers,  waiting  but  the  word  to  deluge 
the  street  with  blood,  showed  the  only  means  by  which  obe- 
dience could  be  secured. 

"0  Lord  of  Hosts,'^  cried  a  voice  among  the  crowd,  "pro- 
vide a  Champion  for  thy  people !" 

This  ejaculation  was  loudly  uttered,  and  served  as  a 
herald's  cry,  to  introduce  a  remarkable  personage.  The 
crowd  had  rolled  back,  and  were  now  huddled  together 
nearly  at  the  extremity  of  the  street,  while  the  soldiers  had 
advanced  no  more  than  a  third  of  its  length.  The  inter- 
vening space  was  empty, — a  paved  solitude,  between  lofty 
edifices,  which  threw  almost  a  twilight  shadow  over  it. 
Suddenly,  there  was  seen  the  figure  of  an  ancient  man, 
who  seemed  to  have  emerged  from  among  the  people,  and 
was  walking  by  himself  along  the  center  of  the  street,  to 
confront  the  armed  band.  He  wore  the  old  Puritan  dress, 
a  dark  cloak  and  a  steeple-crowned  hat,  in  the  fashion  of 
at  least  fifty  years  before,  with  a  heavy  sword  upon  his 
thigh,  but  a  staff  in  his  hand  to  assist  the  tremulous  gait 
of  age. 

When  at  some  distance  from  the  multitude,  the  old  man 
turned  slowly  round,  displayed  a  face  of  antique  majesty, 
rendered  doubly  venerable  by  the  hoary  beard  that  de- 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        185 

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scended  on  his  breast.  He  made  a  gesture  at  once  of  en- 
couragement and  warning,  then  turned  again,  and  resumed 
his  way. 

"Who  is  this  gray  patriarch?"  asked  the  young  men  of 
their  sires. 

"Who  is  this  venerable  brother?"  asked  the  old  men 
among  themselves. 

But  none  could  make  reply.  The  fathers  of  the  people, 
those  of  fourscore  years  and  upwards,  were  disturbed,  deem- 
ing it  strange  that  they  should  forget  one  of  such  evident 
authority,  whom  they  must  have  known  in  their  early  days, 
the  associate  of  Winthrop,  and  all  the  old  counsellors,  giv- 
ing laws,  and  making  prayers,  and  leading  them  against 
the  savage.  The  elderly  men  ought  to  have  remembered 
him,  too,  with  locks  as  gray  in  their  youth  as  their  own 
were  now.  And  the  young!  How  could  he  have  passed 
so  utterly  from  their  memories, — that  hoary  sire,  the  relic 
of  long-departed  times,  whose  awful  benediction  had  surely 
been  bestowed  on  their  uncovered  heads,  in  childhood  ? 

"Whence  did  he  come  ?  What  is  his  purpose  ?  Who  can 
this  old  man  be?"  whispered  the  wondering  crowd. 

Meanwhile,  the  venerable  stranger,  staff  in  hand,  was 
pursuing  his  solitary  walk  along  the  center  of  the  street. 
As  he  drew  near  the  advancing  soldiers,  and  as  the  roll  of 
their  drum  came  full  upon  his  ear,  the  old  man  raised  him- 
self to  a  loftier  mien,  while  the  decrepitude  of  age  seemed 
to  fall  from  his  shoulders,  leaving  him  in  gray  but  un- 
broken dignity.  Now,  he  marched  onward  with  a  warrior's 
step,  keeping  time  to  the  military  music.  Thus  the  aged 
form  advanced  on  one  side,  and  the  whole  parade  of  soldiers 
and  magistrates  on  the  other,  till,  when  scarcely  twenty 


186  Builders  of  Democracy 

yards  remained  between,  the  old  man  grasped  his  staff  by 
the  middle,  and  held  it  before  him  like  a  leader's  truncheon. 

"Stand  V  cried  he. 

The  eye,  the  face,  and  attitude  of  command ;  the  solemn, 
yet  warlike  peal  of  that  voice,  fit  either  to  rule  a  host  in 
the  battlefield  or  be  raised  to  God  in  prayer,  were  irre- 
sistible. At  the  old  man's  word  and  outstretched  arm,  the 
roll  of  the  drum  was  hushed  at  once,  and  the  advancing 
line  stood  still.  A  tremulous  enthusiasm  seized  upon  the 
multitude.  That  stately  form,  combining  the  leader  and 
the  saint,  so  gray,  so  dimly  seen,  in  such  an  ancient  garb, 
could  only  belong  to  some  old  champion  of  the  righteous 
cause,  whom  the  oppressor's  drum  had  summoned  from 
his  grave.  They  raised  a  shout  of  awe  and  exultation,  and 
looked  for  the  deliverance  of  New  England. 

The  Governor,  and  the  gentlemen  of  his  party,  perceiving 
themselves  brought  to  an  unexpected  stand,  rode  hastily 
forward,  as  if  they  would  have  pressed  their  snorting  and 
affrighted  horses  right  against  the  hoary  apparition.  He, 
however,  blenched  not  a  step,  but  glancing  his  severe  eye 
round  the  group,  which  half  encompassed  him,  at  last  bent 
it  sternly  on  Sir  Edmund  Andros.  One  would  have  thought 
that  the  dark  old  man  was  chief  ruler  there,  and  that  the 
Governor  and  Council,  with  soldiers  at  their  back,  repre- 
senting the  whole  power  and  authority  of  the  Crown,  had 
no  alternative  but  obedience. 

"What  does  this  old  fellow  here?"  cried  Edward  Ean- 
dolph,  fiercely.  "On,  Sir  Edmund !  Bid  the  soldiers  for- 
ward, and  give  the  dotard  the  same  choice  that  you  give  all 
his  countrymen, — to  stand  aside  or  be  trampled  on!" 

"ISTay,  nay,  let  us  show  respect  to  the  good  grandsire," 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        187 

iiiiiii.-iririiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I mil iiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

>aid  Bullivant,  laughing.  "Sec  you  not,  he  is  some  old 
round-headed  dignitary,  who  hath,  lain  asleep  these  thirty 
years,  and  knows  nothing  of  the  change  of  times  ?  Doubt- 
less, he  thinks  to  put  us  down  with  a  proclamation  in  Old 
XolPs  name !" 

"Are  you  mad,  old  man?"  demanded  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,  in  loud  and  harsh  tones.  "How  dare  you  stay 
the  march  of  King  James's  Governor?" 

"I  have  stayed  the  march  of  a  king  himself,  ere  now," 
replied  the  gray  figure,  with  stern  composure.  "I  am  here. 
Sir  Governor,  because  the  cry  of  an  oppressed  people  hath 
disturbed  me  in  my  secret  place ;  and  beseeching  this  favor 
earnestly  of  the  Lord,  it  was  vouchsafed  me  to  appear  once 
again  on  earth,  in  the  good  old  cause  of  his  saints.  And 
what  speak  ye  of  James,?  There  is  no  longer  a  Popish 
tyrant  on  the  throne  of  England,  and  by  tomorrow  noon 
his  name  shall  be  a  byword  in  this  very  street,  where  ye 
would  make  it  a  word  of  terror.  Back,  thou  that  wast  a 
(iovernor,  back !  With  this  night  thy  power  is  ended, — to- 
morrow, the  prison ! — back,  lest  I  foretell  the  scaffold !" 

The  people  had  been  drawing  nearer  and  nearer,  and 
drinking  in  the  words  of  their  champion,  who  spoke  in 
accents  long  disused,  like  one  unaccustomed  to  converse, 
except  with  the  dead  of  many  years  ago.  But  his  voice 
stirred  their  souls.  They  confronted  the  soldiers,  not 
wholly  without  arms,  and  ready  to  convert  the  very  stones 
of  the  street  into  deadly  weapons.  Sir  Edmund  Andros 
looked  at  the  old  man ;  then  he  cast  his  hard  and  cruel  eye 
over  the  multitude,  and  beheld  them  burning  with  that 
lurid  wrath,  so  difficult  to  kindle  or  to  quench;  and  again 
he  fixed  his  gaze  on  the  aged  form,  which  stood  obscurely 


188  Builders  of  Democracy 

in  an  open  space,  where  neither  friend  nor  foe  had  thrust 
himself.  What  were  his  thoughts,  he  uttered  no  word  which 
might  discover.  But  whether  the  oppressor  were  overawed 
by  the  Gray  Champion's  look,  or  perceived  his  peril  in  the 
threatening  attitude  of  the  people,  it  is  certain  that  he  gave 
back,  and  ordered  his  soldiers  to  commence  a  slow  and 
guarded  retreat.  Before  another  sunset,  the  Governor,  and 
all  that  rode  so  proudly  with  him,  were  prisoners,  and  long 
ere  it  was  known  that  James  had  abdicated,  King  William 
was  proclaimed  throughout  New  England. 

But  where  was  the  Gray  Champion?  Some  reported, 
that  when  the  troops  had  gone  from  King  Street,  and  the 
people  were  thronging  tumultuously  in  their  rear,  Brad- 
street,  the  aged  Governor,  was  seen  to  embrace  a  form 
more  aged  than  his  own.  Others  soberly  affirmed,  that 
while  they  marveled  at  the  venerable  grandeur  of  his 
aspect,  the  old  man  had  faded  from  their  eyes,  melting 
slowly  into  the  hues  of  twilight,  till,  where  he  stood,  there 
was  an  empty  space.  But  all  agreed  that  the  hoary  shape 
was  gone.  The  men  of  that  generation  watched  for  his 
reappearance,  in  sunshine  and  in  twilight,  but  never  saw 
him  more,  nor  knew  when  his  funeral  passed,  nor  where 
his  gravestone  was. 

And  who  was  the  Gray  Champion?  Perhaps  his  name 
might  be  found  in  the  records  of  that  stern  Court  of  Jus- 
tice, which  passed  a  sentence,  too  mighty  for  the  age,  but 
glorious  in  all  after  times,  for  its  humbling  lesson  to  the 
monarch  and  its  high  example  to  the  subject.  I  have  heard, 
that  whenever  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans  are  to  show 
the  spirit  of  their  sires,  the  old  man  appears  again.  When 
eighty  years  had  passed,  he  walked  once  more  in  King 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        189 

IIIIIIIIIMinilllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIItllllllllllllllllllllllMlllllllllltllH 

Street.  Five  years  later,  in  the  twilight  of  an  April  morn- 
ing, he  stood  on  the  green,  beside  the  meeting-house,  at 
Lexington,  where  now  the  obelisk  of  granite,  with  a  slab 
of  slate  inlaid,  commemorates  the  first  fallen  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. And  when  our  fathers  were  toiling  at  the  breastwork 
on  Bunker's  Hill,  all  through  that  night  the  old  warrior 
walked  his  rounds.  Long,  long  may  it  be,  ere  he  comes 
again!  His  hour  is  one  of  darkness,  and  adversity,  and 
peril.  But  should  domestic  tyranny  oppress  us,  or  the  in- 
vader's step  pollute  our  soil,  still  may  the  Gray  Champion 
come,  for  he  is  the  type  of  New  England's  hereditary  spirit, 
and  his  shadowy  march,  on  the  eve  of  danger^  must  ever  be 
the  pledge  that  New  England's  sons  will  vindicate  their 
ancestry. 


OF  THE  POOR  MAN  ONCE  MORE,  WHO  HAD  LOST  THE  FIGHT 
NARRATED  IN  CHAPTER  V  AND  HAD  SMALL  PART  IN  THE 
BILL  OF  RIGHTS.  ALSO  OF  THE  RUDE  FOREFATHERS 
OF  THE  HAMLET.  AND  HOW  A  PLOW  BOY  POET  ISSUED  A 
DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE  AND  SO  BECAME  ONE 
OF  THE  BUILDERS. 

The  greatest  event  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the 
growth  of  sympathy  for  the  poor  man. 

We  have  seen  how  the  English  peasants,  from  time  to 
time,  rebelled  against  their  oppressors.  We  have  also  seen 
how  the  long  struggle  between  the  kings  and  the  Parlia- 
ment resulted,  in  1688-9,  in  the  victory  of  representative 
government.  But  the  people  who  secured  the  largest  bene- 
fits from  this  victory  were  not  the  peasants  and  laborers. 
Even  in  that  splendid  gathering  at  Runnymede,  when  King 
John  gave  Magna  Charta  to  his  barons,  it  was  the  great 
lords  who  gained  most.     And  the  triumph  of  Parliament 


190  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiMMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiniiiiiiniiniiiriiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

in  1689  depended,  for  its  value,  on  how  fully  the  assembly 
of  the  people,  the  House  of  Commons,  represented  all  the 
people. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  poor  man  had  little  chance  in  the 
years  following  the  Bill  of  Eights.  Deprived  of  education, 
he  grew  coarse  and  brutal.  For  even  slight  offenses  he 
might  be  thrown  into  prison,  where  he  spent  years  of  suf- 
fering in  the  most  horrible  surroundings.  Even  cutting 
down  a  tree  without  permission  of  some  great  man  might  be 
punished  by  death.  His  burden  of  taxes  was  not  lightened 
because  the  Parliament  fixed  the  amount  instead  of  the 
king.  Most  of  all,  he  had  no  chance.  He  could  not  rise 
from  a  low  position  to  one  of  comfort  and  power.  He  was 
not  free  to  develop  as  fully  as  possible  whatever  talent  he 
possessed. 

Poets  and  dramatists  wrote  about  the  rich  and  the  noble, 
not  about  the  poor.  Once,  indeed,  Alexander  Pope,  a  great 
poet,  was  so  moved  by  a  story  that  he  heard  about  two  poor 
lovers,  that  he  wrote  about  them  to  a  beautiful  lady,  the 
Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague.  These  lovers  were  working 
in  a  hay-field  when  a  storm  came  up.  They  fled  for  shelter 
to  a  big  stack  of  hay,  but  were  struck  dead  by  lightning. 
The  poet  wrote  about  their  fate,  but  he  says,  at  the  end, 
that  he  ought  not  to  have  used  her  ladyship's  time  in  tell- 
ing about  people  so  low  in  station,  and  that  their  chief 
happiness,  could  they  but  know  it,  was  that  by  their  death 
they  came  to  the  attention  of  so  great  a  lady. 

But  a  new  spirit  came  over  England,  little  by  little,  as 
the  years  went  on.  Charles  and  John  Wesley  started  a 
great  religious  movement  based  on  the  idea  that  souls  of 
men  are  judged  in  Heaven  by  some  other  standard  than 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        191 

illlllllllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIlNIUIIiMUIIMnillllllllllUIIIIIIIUlim 

wealth  or  social  position.  Prisons  were  reformed,  made 
cleaner,  conducted  in  less  brutal  fashion,  through  the  ef- 
forts of  John  Howard.  Sunday  schools  were  established, 
so  that  ignorant  people  might  have  instruction  they  could 
not  get  elsewhere.  And  even  the  poets  began  to  see  that 
the  lives  of  the  poor  held  stories  that  were  worth  while  and 
that  England's  greatness  depended  in  a  large  part  on  the 
comfort  and  industry  of  those  who  worked  with  their  hands. 

Several  of  these  poems  you  should  know.  The  Elegy 
Wntten  in  a  Country  Churchyard  was  published  a  few 
clears  before  the  American  Eevolution.  Its  author,  Thomas 
Gray,  was  a  very  scholarly  man  who  did  not  associate  much 
with  others.  He  spent  a  good  deal  of  his  time  in  his 
rooms  at  Cambridge  University.  But  in  the  Elegy,  one 
of  the  best  known  poems  in  our  literature,  you  will  find 
several  important  ideas.  One  is  his  reference  to  Crom- 
well, Hampden,  and  other  Builders  whom  you  met  a  little 
while  ago.  Another  is  the  idea  that  in  the  grave,  at  least, 
lord  and  peasant  are  equal.  And  most  important  of  all 
is  the  recognition  that,  given  a  chance  to  develop  their 
powers  freely,  many  of  these  peasants  might  have  become 
great.  They  lived  and  died  in  obscurity.  They  might  have 
been  generals,  orators,  statesmen. 

Democracy,  as  we  in  America  understand  it,  gives  every 
man  a  chance. 


192  Builders  of  Democracy 

iimiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiNiiiiiniiiiiiiitiiiiiiH 

ELEGY  WRITTEN  IN  A  COUNTRY  CHURCHYARD 

THOMAS   GRAY 
1 

The  curfew  tolls  the  knell  of  parting  day, 
The  lowing  herd  wind  slowly  o'er  the  lea, 

The  plowman  homeward  plods  his  weary  way. 
And.  leaves  the  world  to  darkness  and  to  me. 

2 

Now  fades  the  glimmering  landscape  on  the  sight. 
And  all  the  air  a  solemn  stillness  holds. 

Save  where  the  beetle  wheels  his  droning  flight, 
And  drowsy  tinklings  lull  the  distant  folds ; 

3 

Save  that  from  yonder  ivy-mantled  tower 
The  moping  owl  does  to  the  moon  complain 

Of  such,  as  wandering  near  her  secret  bower, 
Molest  her  ancient  solitary  reign. 

4 

Beneath  those  rugged  elms,  that  yew-tree's  shade, 
Where  heaves  the  turf  in  many  a  mouldering  heap. 

Each  in  his  narrow  cell  for  ever  laid. 
The  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep. 

5 

The  breezy  call  of  incense-breathing  morn. 

The  swallow  twittering  from  the  straw-built  shed, 

The  cock's  shrill  clarion,  or  the  echoing  horn. 
No  more  shall  rouse  them  from  their  lowly  bed. 

6 

For  them  no  more  the  blazing  hearth  shall  burn. 
Or  busy  housewife  ply  her  evening  care : 

No  children  run  to  lisp  their  sire's  return, 
Or  climb  his  knees  the  envied  kiss  to  share. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        193 

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y 

Oft  did  the  harvest  to  their  sickle  yield, 

Their  furrow  oft  the  stubborn  glebe  has  broke ; 

How  jocund  did  they  drive  their  team  afield! 
How  bowed  the  woods  beneath  their  sturdy  stroke ! 

8 

Let  not  ambition  mock  their  useful  toil, 
Their  homely  joys,  and  destiny  obscure; 

Nor  grandeur  hear  with  a  disdainful  smile, 
The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor. 

9 

The  boast  of  heraldry,  the  pomp  of  power. 
And  all  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth  e'er  gave, 

Awaits  alike  th'  inevitable  hour. 

The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave. 

10 

Nor  you,  ye  proud,  impute  to  these  the  fault, 
If  memory  o'er  their  tomb  no  trophies  raise, 

Where  thro'  the  long-drawn  aisle  and  fretted  vault 
The  pealing  anthem  swells  the  note  of  praise. 

11 

Can  storied  urn  or  animated  bust 

Back  to  it?  mansion  call  the  fleeting  breath? 

Can  honor's  voice  provoke  the  silent  dust. 
Or  flattery  soothe  the  dull  cold  ear  of  death? 

12 

Perhaps  in  this  neglected  spot  is  laid 

Some  heart  once  pregnant  with  celestial  fire ; 

Hands,  that  the  rod  of  empire  might  have  swayed. 
Or  waked  to  ecstasy  the  living  lyre. 


194  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiuiiMiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim 

13 

But  knowledge  to  their  eyes  her  ample  page 
Rich  with  the  spoils  of  time  did  ne'er  unroll; 

Chill  penury  repressed  their  noble  rage, 
And  froze  the  genial  current  of  the  soul. 

14 

Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 
The  dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear: 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air. 

16 

Some  village  Hampden,  that  with  dauntless  breast 
The  little  tyrant  of  his  fields  withstood; 

Some  mute  inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest, 
Some  Cromwell  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood. 

16 

Th'  applause  of  listening  senates  to  command. 
The  threats  of  pain  and  ruin  to  despise, 

To  scatter  plenty  o'er  a  smiling  land. 
And  read  their  history  in  a  nation's  eyes, 

17 

Their  lot  forbade:  nor  circumscribed  alone 

Their  growing  virtues,  but  their  crimes  confined; 

Forbade  to  wade  through  slaughter  to  a  throne, 
And  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  mankind, 

18 

The  struggling  pangs  of  conscious  truth  to  hide. 
To  quench  the  blushes  of  ingenuous  shame, 

Or  heap  the  shrine  of  luxury  and  pride 
With  incense  kindled  at  the  Muse's  flame. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        195 

IHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIilllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIinUIIUIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIHirillllllllllllllllllUllltlllU^ 

19 

Far  from  the  madding  crowd's  ignoble  strife, 
Their  sober  wishes  never  learned  to  stray; 

Along  the  cool  sequestered,  vale  of  life 

They  kept  the  noiseless  tenor  of  their  way. 

20 

Yet  even  these  bones  from  insult  to  protect, 
Some  frail  memorial  still  erected  nigh, 

With  uncouth  rhymes  and  shapeless  sculpture  decked, 
Implores  the  passing  tribute  of  a  sigh. 

21 

Their  name,  their  years,  spelt  by  th'  unlettered  Muse, 

The  place  of  fame  and  elegy  supply: 
And  many  a  holy  text  around  she  strews. 

That  teach  the  rustic  moralist  to  die. 

22 

For  who  to  dumb  forgetfulness  a  prey. 
This  pleasing  anxious  being  e'er  resigned. 

Left  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day. 
Nor  cast  one  longing  lingering  look  behind? 

23 

On  some  fond  breast  the  parting  soul  relies, 
Some  pious  drops  the  closing  eye  requires ; 

Even  from  the  tomb  the  voice  of  nature  cries, 
Even  in  our  ashes  live  their  wonted  fires. 

24 

For  thee,  who  mindful  of  th'  unhonored  dead 
Dost  in  these  lines  their  artless  tale  relate; 

If  chance,  by  lonely  contemplation  led, 
Some  kindred  spirit  shall  inquire  thy  fate. 


196  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiHuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiH^ 

25 

Haply  some  hoary-headed  swain  may  say, 
"Oft  have  we  seen  him  at  the  peep  of  dawn 

Brushing  with  hasty  steps  the  dews  away 
To  meet  the  sun  upon  the  upland  lawn. 

26 

"There  at  the  foot  af  yonder  nodding  beech 
That  wreathes  its  old  fantastic  roots  so  high, 

His  listless  length  at  noontide  would  he  stretch, 
And  pore  upon  the  brook  that  babbles  by. 

27 

"Hard  by  yon  wood,  now  smiling  as  in  scorn. 
Muttering  his  wayward  fancies  he  would  rove. 

Now  drooping,  woeful  wan,  like  one  forlorn. 

Or  crazed  with  care,  or  crossed  in  hopeless  love. 

28 

"One  morn  I  missed  him  on  the  customed  hill. 
Along  the  heath  and  near  his  favorite  tree ; 

Another  came;  nor  yet  beside  the  rill, 
Nor  up  the  lawn,  nor  at  the  wood  was  he; 

29 

"The  next  with  dirges  due  in  sad  array 

Slow  thro^  the  church-way  path  we  saw  him  borne. 

Approach  and  read  (for  thou  canst  read)  the  lay. 
Graved  on  the  stone  beneath  yon  aged  thorn." 

THE    STORY    OF    ROBERT    BURNS 
President  Wilson  has  said  that  patriotism  in  America 
is  '*^an  active  principle  of  conduct  ....   that  was  born 
into  the  world  to  replace  systems  that  had  preceded  it  and 
to  bring  men  out  upon  a  new  plane  of  privilege." 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        197 

iMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiimiiiirnmii 

This  "new  plane  of  privilege"  made  real  the  thing  that 
the  poet  Gray  expressed  in  the  poem  you  have  just  read. 
All  men  have  certain  capacities.  In  the  England  of  the 
eighteenth  century  much,  very  much,  had  been  done  toward 
making  this  fact  count  for  the  happiness  and  development 
of  the  individual.  But  the  principle  had  not  been  extended 
to  all  men.  The  sharp  distinctions  in  rank  prevented. 
The  House  of  Commons,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  was  not 
truly  representative. 

The  sense  that  these  things  were  wrong  and  should  be 
corrected  grew  strong  in  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  American  Eevolution  was  fought  in  order 
to  establish  the  political  equality  of  men  and  their  right  to 
govern  themselves.  The  French  Eevolution,  which  fol- 
lowed a  few  years  later,  was  inspired  by  the  ideas  of  "lib- 
erty, equality,  fraternity."  In  Scotland,  home  of  Wallace 
and  Bruce,  those  old  patriots  whom  you  met  a  while  ago, 
Robert  Burns  taught  the  same  doctrine.  The  theme  of 
much  of  his  poetry  is  just  the  same  theme  that  you  meet 
in  the  writings  and  speeches  of  our  own  Revolutionary 
heroes,  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Patrick  Henry.  You  should 
know  something  about  this  Scottish  poet,  for  he  was  one 
of  the  Builders  of  Democracy. 

He  was  born  in  1759,  in  a  two-room  cottage.  His  father 
was  a  poor  "renter"  who  moved  from  farm  to  farm  in  his 
efforts  to  make  a  living.  Everyone  in  the  family  had  t» 
work  early  and  late,  so  Robert  got  most  of  his  education 
by  studying  nature,  and  by  reading  poetry  and  history  at 
odd  moments,  even  while  following  the  plow. 

All  his  life  he  struggled  with  poverty.  At  one  time  he 
planned  to  seek  a  better  opportunity  in  America.    The  feel- 


198  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiriiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiitiii 

ing  that  led  him  to  this  decision  was  just  the  same  desire 
for  larger  opportunity  that  has  brought  so  many  thousands 
of  poor  men  and  women,  from  every  country  in  Europe, 
to  free  America  during  the  last  century.  But  in  order  to 
get  money  enough  to  pay  for  his  passage,  Burns  collected 
a  little  volume  of  poems  that  he  had  written  from  time  to 
time,  and  published  them.  These  poems  were  so  simple,  so 
sincere,  so  filled  with  love  for  Scotland,  that  everyone  read 
them  and  loved  them,  and  the  poet  decided  to  remain  in 
his  native  land.  He  made  a  journey  all  through  Scotland, 
visiting  the  birthplace  of  Eobert  Bruce  and  other  places 
dear  in  Scottish  legend  and  history.  He  loved  this  history. 
He  loved  all  the  Scottish  country,  even  the  simple  farm 
scenes  that  to  many  people  possess  no  charm.  He  wrote 
about  the  field  mouse  whose  humble  dwelling  was  uprooted 
by  his  plow,  and  about  the  mountain  daisy,  and  about  the 
Saturday  night  at  the  cottage  of  the  poor  farm  laborer. 

These  facts  help  us  to  understand  how  the  wide  sjnn- 
pathy  Burns  felt  for  every  humble  creature,  the  farm  ani- 
mals, the  flowers  of  the  field,  the  poor  cotter,  led  him  to 
express  the  very  spirit  of  democracy.  He  himself  was  poor 
and  in  debt;  his  life  was  so  limited  by  circumstances  that 
only  the  music  in  his  soul,  the  songs  that  broke  from  him 
like  the  springs  from  mountain  rocks,  lifted  him  above 
the  round  of  suffering  and  care.  But  he  did  not  envy  those 
who  were  counted  great  by  the  world  merely  because  they 
had  been  born  to  lordships  and  lands.  To  him  manhood  de- 
pended on  something  else.  So  his  song  "A  Man's  a  Man" 
expresses  the  very  same  idea  of  equality  that  we  find  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


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FOR  A'  THAT  AND  A'  THAT 

BOBEBT   BUBNS 

Is  there,  for  honest  poverty. 

That  hangs  his  head,  and  a'  that  ? 
The  coward-slave,  we  pass  him  by 
We  dare  be  poor  for  a'  that ! 
For  a'  that,  and  a'  that, 

Our  toils  obscure,  and  a'  that ; 
The  rank  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp. 
The  man's  the  gowd  for  a'  that. 

What  though,  on  hamely  fare  we  dine. 

Wear  hoddin-gray,  and  a'  that; 
Gie  fools  their  silks,  and  knaves  their  wine, 
A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that! 
For  a'  that,  and  a'  that. 

Their  tinsel  show,  and  a'  that ; 
The  honest  man,  though  e'er  sae  poor, 
Is  king  o'  men  for  a'  that. 

Ye  see  yon  birkie,  ca'd  a  lord, 

Wha  struts,  and  stares,  and  a'  that; 
Though  hundreis  worship  at  his  word. 
He's  but  a  coof  for  a'  that; 
For  a'  that,  and  a'  that, 

His  ribband,  star,  and  a'  that; 
The  man  of  independent  mind. 
He  looks  and  laughs  at  a'  that. 

A  prince  can  make  a  belted  knight, 

A  marquis,  duke,  and  a'  that; 
But  an  honest  man's  aboon  his  might 
Guid  faith,  he  maunna  fa'  that! 
For  a'  that,  and  a'  that; 

Their  dignities,  and  a'  that; 
The  pith  o'  sense,  and  pride  o'  worth. 
Are  higher  rank  than  a'  that. 


200  Builders  of  Democracy 

utniiiuiiuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiintriiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiminiiiim^ 

Then  let  us  pray  that  come  it  may, 

As  come  it  will  for  a'  that, 
That  sense  and  worth,  o'er  a'  the  earth, 
Shall  bear  the  gree,  and  a'  that; 
For  a'  that,  and  a'  that; 

It's  comin'  yet,  for  a'  that; 
That  man  to  man,  the  warld  o'er 
Shall  brothers  be  for  a'  that. 


The  same  ideas  come  out  everywhere  in  the  poetry  of  this 
best-loved  of  song-writers.  For  example,  when  he  was 
plowing  one  day  he  accidentally  destroyed  the  nest  of  a 
field-mouse.  So  he  stopped  and  wrote  a  poem  about  it. 
To  the  mouse  he  said: 

Wee,  sleekit,  cowrin,  tim'rous  beastie. 
Oh,  what  a  panic's  in  thy  breastie ! 
Thou  need  na  start  awa  sae  hasty 

Wi'  bickering  brattle ! 
I  wad  be  laith  to  rin  an'  chase  thee 
Wi'  murd'rin  pattle ! 

•    I'm  truly  sorry  man's  dominion 
Has  broken  nature's  social  union. 
An'  justifies  that  ill  opinion 

Which  makes  thee  startle 
At  me^  thy  poor,  earth-born  companion, 

An'  fellow-mortal! 

These  lines  show  how  wide  was  the  sympathy  of  Burns 
^he  is  a  "fellow-mortal"  of  the  mouse,  and  his  "earth-born 
companion."  And  they  also  express  his  faith  in  "nature's 
social  union,"  a  brotherhood  that  men  by  their  evil  am- 
bitions are  constantly  breaking. 


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Again.  Burns  wrote  about  the  Cotter's  Saturday  Night. 
The  laborer  comes  home,  wearied  from  his  week's  work. 

His  wee-bit  ingle,  blinkin'  bonilie. 

His  clean  hearth-stane,  his  thriftie  wifie's  smile, 

The  lisping  infant  prattling  on  his  knee 

all  fill  him  with  joy  and  drive  his  care  and  weariness  away. 
The  older  children,  who  have  spent  the  veek  working  out 
on  neighboring  farms,  also  come  home.  The  bashful  young 
lover  joins  the  party,  and  is  asked  to  stay  for  the  simple 
supper  of  porridge  and  cottage  cheese.  After  supper  is 
over, 

The  priest-like  father  reads  the  sacred  page 
and  all  the  family  kneel  in  prayer. 

So  Bums  sees  the  value  in  simple  and  industrious  lives. 
The  worth  of  a  nation  depends  not  on  its  lords  and  great 
men,  but  on  such  families  as  we  here  look  upo:i. 

From  scenes  like  these  old  Scotia's  grandeur  springs. 
That  makes  her  lov'd  at  home,  rever'd  abroad : 
Princes  and  lords  are  but  the  breath  of  kings, 
"An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God"; 
And  certes,  in  fair  Virtue's  heavenly  road, 
The  cottage  leaves  the  palace  far  behind ; 
What  is  a  lordling's  pomp  ?  a  cumbrous  load. 
Disguising  oft  the  wretch  of  human  kind. 
Studied  in  arts  of  hell,  in  wickedness  refin'd ! 

0  Scotia !  my  dear,  my  native  soil ! 

For  whom  my  warmest  wish  to  Heaven  is  sent. 

Long  may  thy  hardy  sons  of  rustic  toil 

Be  blest  with  heal'th,  and  peace,  and  sweet  content ! 

And  oh!  may  Heaven  their  simple  lives  prevent 

From  luxury's  contagion,  weak  and  vile! 


202  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiinniitiiininnMiniiiriiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 

Then,  howe'er  crowns  and  coronets  be  rent, 
A  virtuous  populace  may  rise  the  while, 

And  stand  a  wall  of  fire  around  their  much-lov'd  isle. 

0  Thou!  who  pour'd  the  patriotic  tide 

That  stream'd  thro'  Wallace's  undaunted  heart. 

Who  dar'd  to  nobly  stem  tyrannic  pride. 

Or  nobly  die,  the  second  glorious  part, — 

(The  patriot's  God  peculiarly  thou  art, 

His  friend,  inspirer,  guardian,  and  reward!) 

0  never,  never  Scotia's  realm  desert. 

But  still  the  patriot,  and  the  patriot-bard. 

In  bright  succession  raise,  her  ornament  and  guard ! 

Burns  himself  was  a  proof  of  what  Gray  wrote  about — 
the  infinite  possibilities  in  humble  lives.  America  has 
proved  this  truth  over  and  over  again.  For  example,  a  few 
years  ago  a  poor  boy  in  Russia  was  put  in  prison,  with 
others  in  his  family,  because  the  government  was  afraid  of 
the  growing  spirit  of  rebellion  among  the  peasants  and 
laborers.  This  boy  escaped  from  prison  and  made  his  way 
to  America.  He  knew  something  about  book-binding,  and 
worked  his  way  through  the  University  by  this  means. 
Then  he  entered  a  medical  school  and  completed  his  course. 
He  stood  high  in  his  studies  and  a  brilliant  career  was 
before  him  when  America,  his  adopted  country,  went  to 
war  against  the  sort  of  tyranny  that  denies  a  man  a  chance 
for  the  free  development  of  his  life.  So  he  entered  the 
Medical  Eeserve  service  of  the  United  States,  where  he  is 
now  an  officer,  repaying  his  debt  and  helping  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  boys  such  as  he  once  was.  Among  the  mil- 
lions of  peasants  in  Russia  are  many  like  this  boy,  many 
also  who,  like  Robert  Burns,  might  write  stories  and  songs 


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that  would  make  the  world  happier  and  better.  On  such 
a  belief  democracy  is  founded.  The  lords  and  great  ones 
in  Scotland  in  the  time  of  Burns  we  have  forgotten,  but 
the  world  will  never  forget  this  plow-boy  and  his  songs  of 
brotherhood  and  love. 
He  was  one  of  the  Builders  of  Democracy. 

It's  coming  yet,  for  a'  that. 
That  man  to  man,  the  warld  o'er. 
Shall  brothers  be  for  a'  that. 

XI 

SHOWING  THAT  THE  ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  TIME 
OF  BURNS  DID  NOT  REPRESENT  THE  PEOPLE.  BUT  HOW 
THE  COLONIES,  IN  WHICH  THE  PEOPLE  RULED,  APPLIED 
THE  OLD  ENGLISH  TEST  OF  LIBERTY.  OF  THE  NATURE  OF 
THE  CONTEST,  AND  HOW  GREAT  ENGLISHMEN  FOUGHT  A 
LOSING  FIGHT  IN  BEHALF  OF  LIBERTY  FOR  AMERICA.  AND 
AT  THE  LAST,  TWO  PROPHECIES  OF  THE  FUTURE  OF  ENG- 
LAND AND  AMERICA  WHICH  HAVE  GREAT  INTEREST  FOR 
US  TODAY. 

The  English  colonies  in  America  grew  and  prospered 
during  the  century  and  a  half  that  followed  the  settlement 
of  Jamestown  and  Plymouth.  Through  most  of  the  time 
the  government  at  home  interfered  but  little.  So  the  ideas 
of  co-operation  and  self-government  they  brought  with 
them  from  the  mother-country  were  left  free  to  expand  in 
a  way  impossible  at  home.  They  had  their  own  magis- 
trates, their  own  assemblies,  their  own  free  constitutions. 
The  principles  that  Burns  praised — the  idea  of  political 
equality  based  on  human  brotherhood — triumphed  over  the 
old  distinctions  based  on  rank  and  wealth. 

When  these  free  institutions  were  threatened  by  a  new 
tyranny,  a  clash  was  inevitable.     The  American  Eevolu- 


204  Builders  of  Democracy 

tion  is  a  most  important  fact  in  the  history  of  our  country ; 
it  is  also  a  most  important  fact  in  the  history  of  our  race. 
Let  us  try  to  look  at  it,  for  the  present,  as  one  step  in  the 
great  struggle  for  liberty  that  had  been  going  on  in  Eng- 
land for  centuries.  It  was  not  a  war  against  the  people  of 
England;  the  people  of  England,  even  at  that  time,  were 
vitally  concerned  in  it,  and  as  time  went  on  they  benefited 
by  it  through  their  own  increased  share  in  government. 

The  Glorious  Eevolution  of  1688,  as  we  have  seen,  estab- 
lished the  supremacy  of  Parliament.  It  only  remained  to 
determine  who  were  the  people  to  be  represented  by  this 
Parliament.  We  have  seen  how  in  England  as  well  as  in 
America  a  new  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  laborer  and 
the  peasant,  of  the  common  man,  was  gaining  ground  as 
the  years  passed  by. 

But  in  fact  the  government  of  England  was  not  in  the 
hands  of  the  people,  in  spite  of  the  triumph  of  Parliament. 
For  example,  when  the  American  Eevolution  broke  out 
there  were  about  eight  millions  of  people  in  England.  Of 
these,  only  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  might 
vote.  A  great  Englishman,  Edmund  Burke,  who  was  also 
a  great  friend  of  the  colonies,  said  that  a  House  of  Com- 
mons could  have  value  only  as  it  was  "the  express  image 
of  the  feelings  of  the  nation."  But  English  cities  like 
Birmingham  and  Manchester  had  no  representatives  at  all 
in  Parliament.  Thus  whole  sections  of  the  English  popu- 
lation, as  in  Germany  today,  had  no  voice  in  the  govern- 
ment. To  make  matters  worse,  certain  districts,  or  bor- 
oughs, that  had  once  contained  a  considerable  rural  popu- 
lation, had  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  families  of 
nobles,  and  their  population  was  dispersed.    Yet  these  dis- 


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tricts  returned  members  to  Parliament  who  of  course  repre- 
sented not  any  part  of  the  English  people,  but  were  merely 
creatures  of  the  owner  of  the  borough.  Even  worse  than 
this,  seats  in  Parliament  could  be  purchased  by  men  who 
wished  to  gain  power.  Given  a  king,  therefore,  who  wished 
to  rule  absolutely,  nothing  could  be  easier  than  to  form  a 
House  of  Commons  completely  under  his  control  and  not 
at  all  responsible  to  the  people. 

One  other  fact  you  must  keep  in  mind.  Back  in  the 
time  of  Queen  Elizabeth  much  power  was  concentrated  in 
the  Privy  Council,  a  small  body  of  ministers  responsible 
to  the  sovereign.  In  later  times,  this  Privy  Council  be- 
came a  Cabinet,  in  whose  hands  the  chief  executive  power  of 
the  government  was  lodged.  The  king  appointed  a  Prime 
Minister,  who  in  turn  appointed  men  to  direct  the  various 
departments.  In  the  time  of  George  III  this  Cabinet  was 
responsible  only  to  the  sovereign.  It  is  not  so  in  England 
today,  but  Lord  North,  who  was  the  Prime  Minister  of 
England  at  the  outbreak  of  the  American  Eevolution,  was 
the  tool  of  the  king,  and  since  the  king  also  controlled 
Parliament,  you  can  easily  see  that  the  power  of  George 
III,  in  spite  of  the  constitutional  freedom  guaranteed  by 
the  Bill  of  Rights,  was  almost  as  absolute  as  that  of  the 
German  kaiser  today. 

The  first  thing  for  you  to  remember,  then,  is  that  when 
Parliament  and  the  Ministry  oppressed  the  American  col- 
onies through  unlawful  taxation  and  other  restrictions  they 
did  not  do  so  by  the  aid  or  the  will  of  the  English  people. 
At  that  time  the  English  people  themselves  were  not  free. 
This  is  why  the  American  Revolution  marked  not  only 
the  founding  of  a  new  nation  of  men  who  spoke  the  English 


206  Builders  of  Democracy 

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tongue,  but  also  a  stage  in  the  development  of  a  free  Eng- 
land. 

It  is  equally  important  to  remember  that  these  things 
were  clearly  seen  by  some  of  the  ablest  English  statesmen 
of  that  time.  These  men  found  an  audience  in  that  large 
body  of  Englishmen  who  were  becoming  more  intelligent  in 
matters  of  government  and  more  sensitive  to  the  corrup- 
tion that  made  the  king's  tyranny  possible.  These  men 
sought  to  reform  Parliament  so  that  it  might  be  more 
truly  representative.  They  also  used  their  utmost  en- 
deavor to  bring  about  a  change  in  the  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment toward  America. 

That  policy  was  to  treat  the  colonies  as  dependencies. 
Their  chief  value  to  England,  according  to  this  view,  was 
precisely  the  value  that  Philip  of  Spain  attached  to  his 
colonies  in  the  sixteenth  century.  That  is,  they  were 
sources  of  revenue,  for  the  payment  of  government  ex- 
penses. They  had  no  representation  in  the  British  Parlia- 
ment; their  old  free  charters  were  revoked;  judges  ap- 
pointed by  the  Crown  were  imposed  upon  them;  troops 
were  stationed  among  them;  their  commerce  was  inter- 
fered with. 

All  these  abuses  centered  about  the  question  of  taxation. 
The  right  of  men  to  tax  themselves,  to  determine  how  their 
public  money  shall  be  raised  and  how  it  shall  be  spent 
has  for  a  thousand  years  been  the  fundamental  test  of 
liberty  in  the  thought  of  Englishmen.  The  barons  at 
Runnymede  forced  King  John  to  sign  Magna  Charta  be- 
cause they  refused  to  be  taxed  without  their  consent.  The 
troubles  of  Charles  I  with  his  people  were  largely  due  to 
his  unjust  and  illegal  taxation.     Sir  Thomas  Wentworth 


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spoke  in  Parliament  in  1628  in  words  that  might  have  been 
used  by  Samuel  Adams  or  Patrick  Henry,  "We  must  vin- 
dicate our  ancient  liberties.  We  must  reinforce  the  laws 
made  by  our  ancestors.  We  must  set  such  a  stamp  upon 
them  as  no  licentious  spirit  shall  dare  hereafter  to  in- 
vade them."  Thus  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  pro- 
testing against  just  such  invasions  of  the  rights  of  Eng- 
lishmen, is  in  complete  accord  with  the  English  tradition 
of  liberty.  As  the  Massachusetts  Assembly  voted  in  pro- 
test against  the  Stamp  Act :  "The  power  of  taxing  is  the 
grand  banner  of  British  liberty.  If  that  is  once  broken 
down,  all  is  lost." 

This  was  recognized  also  by  powerful  friends  of  Amer- 
ica in  England.  When,  in  1765,  the  Stamp  Act  was 
passed,  William  Pitt,  the  Great  Commoner,  a«  he  was 
called  because  of  his  constant  effort  to  make  the  British 
Parliament  more  completely  representative  of  English 
public  opinion,  was  absent  from  the  House  because  of  ill- 
ness. "When  the  resolution  was  taken  to  tax  America,  I 
was  ill  and  in  bed,"  he  said,  "but  if  I  could  have  endured  to 
be  carried  in  my  bed,  so  great  was  the  agitation  of  my  mind 
for  the  consequences,  I  would  have  solicited  some  kind 
friend  to  have  laid  me  down  on  this  floor,  to  have  borne 
my  testimony  against  it."  When  he  learned  that  the 
Americans  had  called  a  Congress  to  provide  for  action 
against  the  tax,  Pitt  openly  rejoiced. 

"In  my  opinion,"  he  said,  "this  kingdom  has  no  right 
to  lay  a  tax  on  the  Colonies.    America  is  obstinate  ?    Amer-  ' 
ica  is  almost  in  open  rebellion  ?    Sir,  I  rejoice  that  Amer- 
ica has  resisted.     Three  millions  of  people  so  dead  to  all 
the  feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  submit  to  be  slaves 


208  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiMitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiinMiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiH^ 

would  have  been  fit  instruments  to  make  slaves  of  the 
rest."  "He  spoke,"  said  one  who  heard  him,  "like  a  man 
inspired!"  Pitt  continued  his  fight  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act  until  he  was  successful. 

Long  years  afterwards,  when  the  Eevolution  was  on,  the 
great  statesman,  now  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  still  worked 
for  a  reconciliation.  Lord  North  and  the  king  were  tri- 
umphant about  some  successes  over  the  army  of  Washing- 
ton. But  Chatham  said,  "You  cannot  conquer  America! 
If  I  were  an  American  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  for- 
eign troop  was  landed  in  my  country,  I  never  would  lay  down 
my  arms — never,  never,  never !"  What  he  hoped  to  bring 
about,  even  in  the  midst  of  war,  was  a  federal  union  between 
America  and  England  somewhat  like  that  which  exists  to- 
day between  Canada  and  Australia  and  the  mother  country. 
Even  after  Burgoyne  had  surrendered  and  France  had 
joined  the  American  cause,  the  old  statesman,  too  feeble  to 
walk  alone,  was  borne  to  the  House  of  Lords  for  his  last  ap- 
pearance. He  wished  to  plead  once  more  for  surrender  to 
America  of  everything  that  might  be  necessary.  "I  re- 
joice," he  said,  "that  I  am  still  alive  to  lift  up  my  voice 
against  the  dismemberment  of  this  ancient  and  noble  mon- 
archy. His  Majesty  succeeded  to  an  Empire  as  great  in  ex- 
tent as  its  reputation  was  unsullied.  Seventeen  years  ago 
this  people  was  the  terror  of  the  world."  A  few  moments 
later  his  speech  was  interrupted  by  a  spasm  of  pain.  Press- 
ing his  hand  upon  his  heart  he  fell  in  a  faint,  to  be  carried 
to  his  home  to  die. 

"Life  may  be  given  in  many  ways,"  an  American  poet 
has  said,  "and  loyalty  to  Truth  be  sealed  as  bravely  in 
the  closet  as  in  the  field." 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        209 

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One  does  not  have  to  be  a  soldier,  charging  "over  the 
top,"  to  deserve  the  badge  of  Distinguished  Service.  The 
"top"  may  not  be  swept  by  bullets  from  machine  guns,  but 
by  bullets  of  a  very  different  kind.  It  was  a  soldier  who 
once  said  of  William  Pitt  that  no  man  ever  entered  his 
private  conference  room  who  did  not  feel  himself  braver 
when  he  came  out  than  wiS^  he  went  in. 

Such  a  life  of  heroic  service  to  justice  and  freedom  was 
lived  by  Edmund  Burke,  friend  of  America  in  the  Revolu- 
jtionary  period.  He  was  born  in  Dublin  in  1729.  His 
father  sent  him,  after  he  had  completed  a  college  course, 
to  London  to  study  law,  but  he  spent  more  time  in  reading 
literature  and  history,  in  attending  debating  clubs  and  the 
theaters,  and  in  travel,  than  he  spent  on  his  legal  studies. 
So  his  father  stopped  his  allowance,  and  the  young  Ed- 
mund went  to  writing  for  a  living. 

Some  of  his  writings  attracted  the  attention  of  the  edi- 
tors of  the  Annual  Register,  a  summary  of  important 
events,  and  to  this  publication  Burke  contributed  for  many 
years.  He  became  a  member  of  the  famous  Literary  Club, 
to  which  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  and  Oliver  Goldsmith  be- 
longed, as  well  as  Garrick,  the  great  actor,  and  Eeynolds, 
the  famous  artist. 

In  1766,  Burke  entered  Parliament.  He  won  immediate 
fame  for  his  speech  against  the  Stamp  Act,  and  then  began 
his  long  opposition  to  the  policy  of  George  III.  He  made 
many  speeches  on  American  affairs,  in  all  of  which  he 
sought  to  secure  for  America  a  treatment  based  on  justice 
and  a  spirit  of  conciliation. 

The  heroism  of  Burke  comes  out  in  the  fact  that  though 
by  compromise  he  might  have  had  the  highest  positions. 


210  Builders  of  Democracy 

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he  preferred  a  course  that  was  unpopular  rather  than  to 
give  up  his  principles.  "What  is  more,  he  knew  that  he 
had  no  chance  of  getting  Parliament  to  adopt  his  policy. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  "King's  Friends"  controlled  the  gov- 
ernment absolutely.  To  fight  on  for  the  right,  though  he 
knew  right  could  not  conquer,  was  his  task. 

Some  of  Burke's  ideas  are  r  of  <  great  value  today.  The 
two  great  ends  of  all  political  dealing,  he  thought,  are 
Justice  and  Freedom.  It  was  because  the  course  taken  by 
the  king  in  dealing  with  the  Americans  was  unjust  to  men 
who  were  descendants  of  Englishmen,  and  because  the  over- 
throw of  the  freedom  of  Englishmen  in  America  would 
lead  to  the  dverthrow  of  Englishmen  at  home,  that  he 
fought,  against  odds,  with  small  hope  of  success,  year  after 
year. 

In  March,  1775,  a  little  more  than  three  months 
before  the  American  Declaration  of  Independence,  the 
British  House  of  Commons  was  the  scene  of  an  event 
full  of  meaning  for  America  and  the  world.  Lord  North's 
bill,  limiting  the  commerce  of  the  Colonies  and  forbidding 
the  New  England  fishermen  from  carrying  on  their 
work,  was  up  for  consideration.  This  act,  called  the 
Grand  Penal  Bill,  would,  if  passed,  reduce  New  England 
to  beggary. 

That  the  act  would  be  passed,  all  men  knew.  Neverthe- 
less, Burke  spoke  in  behalf  of  Conciliation  with  the  Amer- 
ican colonies,  in  behalf  of  Justice  and  Freedom. 

Three  principles  on  which  this  speech  rests  are  full  of 
significance  for  us  today. 

The  first  is  his  belief  that  government  should  be  based 
on  "plain  good  intention."     "Plain  good  intention,"  he 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        211 

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says,  "which  is  as  easily  discovered  at  the  first  view,  as 
fraud  is  surely  detected  at  last,  is  of  no  mean  force  in  the 
government  of  mankind.  Genuine  simplicity  of  heart  is 
a  healing  and  cementing  principle/' 

The  course  of  autocratic  government  is  never  marked 
by  "plain  good  intention."  It  was  not  so  in  George  Ill's 
dealings  with  America.  It  has  not  been  so  in  Germany's 
dealings  with  the  world.  For  it,  Germany  has  substituted 
intrigue,  plots  to  get  Mexico  and  Japan  to  attack  the 
United  States,  plots  to  overthrow  the  South  American  re- 
publics, plots  against  the  government  of  the  United  States 
even  when  she  was  at  peace  with  us.  The  same  intrigue 
and  secret  plotting  came  out  in  the  revelations  of  the  Ger- 
man ambassador  who  was  in  London  before  the  war  broke 
out.  To  such  a  government  a  treaty  is  but  a  "scrap  of 
paper";  hence  the  treatment  of  Belgium  by  Germany. 
But  all  these  secret  treaties  by  which  nations  are  compelled 
to  go  to  war  at  the  will  of  a  few  military  despots,  this 
method  of  intrigue,  of  spies,  of  secret  propaganda,  will  be 
done  away  with  when  this  war  is  over.  Burke's  principle 
of  "plain  good  intention,"  of  friendly  desire  to  help  others 
and  to  play  a  fair  game,  will  take  its  place,  to  be  a  'Tieal- 
ing  and  cementing  principle"  in  the  world. 

The  second  principle  is  that  a  people,  or  a  nation,  has  a 
right  to  determine  for  itself  its  form  of  government  and  its 
ideals  of  liberty.  George  III  and  his  ministry  knew  little 
and  cared  less  about  what  the  Americans  wanted.  But 
Burke  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  explaining  the  temper 
and  character  of  the  American  people,  and  his  conclusion 
was  that  England  must  comply  with  this  spirit,  not  seek  to 
break  it.    Here  was  a  great  population,  used  to  self-govern- 


212  Builders  of  Democracy 

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ment^  which  the  British  authorities  thought  they  could 
handle  as  they  desired. 

So  Germany  today  thinks  that  the  Poles,  or  the  Bel- 
gians, or  the  many  different  peoples  in  eastern  and  south- 
eatern  Europe  can  be  bought  and  sold,  placed  under  one 
king  or  another,  attached  to  one  empire  or  another,  with- 
out regard  for  the  feelings  and  ideals  of  the  peoples.  But 
peoples  are  not  like  boxes  of  merchandise  to  be  shipped 
here  and  there.    They  have  a  right  to  "self-determination." 

The  Colonies,  Burke  thought,  were  a  part  of  the  Eng- 
lish nation,  not  dependencies;  they  must  be  treated  as 
Englishmen.  Here  is  the  third  idea  that  concerns  us  to- 
day. Burke  laid  stress  on  the  fact  that  the  Colonies  were 
not  only  founded  by  Englishmen,  having  English  love  of 
liberty,  but  that  they  left  England  when  that  passion  for 
liberty  was  at  white  heat.  Liberty,  Burke  said,  always 
attached  itself  to  some  one  real  object.  To  an  Englishman 
taxation  is  the  test.  To  be  taxed  without  being  repre- 
sented, to  an  Englishman,  is  tyranny.  Thus  Burke  pointed 
©ut  the  very  thing  that  was  driving  the  Americans  to  sepa- 
ration from  the  mother  country,  and  he  said,  boldly  and 
manfully,  in  the  presence  of  Lord  North  and  all  the 
"King's  Friends,"  that  the  Americans  were  right. 

Now,  after  all  the  years,  we  see  the  full  significance  of 
Burke's  argument  about  the  relations  between  Americans 
and  Englishmen. 

First,  the  Eevolution  was  not  fought  against  the  Eng- 
lish nation,  but  against  the  government  that  was  then  in 
power.  It  was  a  part  of  the  long  struggle  for  free  govern- 
ment that  had  been  going  on  in  England  for  centuries. 

Second,  Americans  are  related  to  England  not  only  by 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         213 

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descent  but  through  their  institutions.  The  political  ideals 
of  the  two  peoples  are  the  same.  Pitt  and  Burke  hoped 
that  the  differences  between  the  Colonies  and  the  British 
government  might  be  settled  and  that  no  separation  would 
take  place.  Their  work  was  unavailing.  But  the  spiritual 
unity  that  both  men  saw  and  valued  has  become  a  great 
and  inspiring  fact  today.  '  Many  years  ago  John  Richard 
Green,  writing  about  the  American  Eevolution,  foresaw 
this  day  and  wrote  of  its  significance.  And  Alfred  Tenny- 
son has  put  into  a  single  short  poem  this  whole  story 
of  how  the  spirit  of  liberty  in  England  and  America  grew 
through  two  centuries. 


ENGLAND    AND    AMERICA   NATURAL    ALLIES 

JOFN  RICHARD  GREEX 

Whatever  might  be  the  importance  of  American  inde- 
pendence in  the  history  of  England,  it  was  of  unequalled 
moment  in  the  history  of  the  world.  If  it  crippled  for  a 
while  the  supremacy  of  the  English  nation,  it  founded  the 
supremacy  of  the  English  race.  From  the  hour  of  Ameri- 
can Independence  the  life  of  the  English  people  has  flowed 
not  in  one  current,  but  in  two;  and  while  the  older  has 
shown  little  signs  of  lessening,  the  younger  has  fast  risen 
to  a  greatness  which  has  changed  the  face  of  the  world. 
In  1783  America  was  a  nation  of  three  millions  of  inhabi- 
tants, scattered  thinly  along  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  It  is  now  [1877]  a  nation  of  forty  millions,  stretch- 
ing over  the  whole  continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 


214  Builders  of  Democracy 

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In  wealth  and  material  energy^  as  in  numbers,  it  far  sur- 
passes the  mother-country  from  which  it  sprang.  It  is 
already  the  main  branch  of  the  English  people ;  and  in  the 
days  that  are  at  hand  the  main  current  of  that  people's 
history  must  run  along  the  channel  not  of  the  Thames  or 
the  Mersey,  but  of  the  Hudson  and  the  Mississippi. 

But  distinct  as  these  currents  are,  every  year  proves  more 
clearly  that  in  spirit  the  English  people  are  one.  The  dis- 
tance that  parted  England  from  America  lessens  every  day. 
The  ties  that  unite  them  grow  every  day  stronger.  The 
social  and  political  differences  that  threatened  a  hundred 
years  ago  to  form  an  impassable  barrier  between  them  grow 
every  day  less.  Against  this  silent  and  inevitable  drift  of 
things  the  spirit  of  narrow  isolation  on  either  side  the 
Atlantic  struggles  in  vain.  It  is  possible  that  the  two 
branches  of  the  English  people  will  remain  forever  sepia- 
rate  political  existences.  It  is  likely  enough  that  the  older 
of  them  may  again  break  in  twain,  and  that  the  English 
people  in  the  Pacific  may  assert  as  distinct  a  national  life 
as  the  two  English  peoples  on  either  side  the  Atlantic.  But 
the  spirit,  the  influence,  of  all  these  branches  will  remain 
one. 

And  in  thus  remaining  one,  before  half  a  century  is  over 
it  will  change  the  face  of  the  world.  As  two  hundred  mil- 
lions of  Englishmen  fill  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  as 
fifty  millions  of  Englishmen  assert  their  lordship  over 
Australasia,  this  vast  power  will  tell  through  Britain  on 
the  old  world  of  Europe,  whose  nations  will  have  shrunk 
into,  insignificance  before  it.  What  the  issues  of  such  a 
world-wide  change  may  be,  not  'even  the  wildest  dreamer 
would  dare  to  dream.    But  one  issue  is  inevitable.     In  the 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        215 

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centuries  that  lie  before  us,  the  primacy  of  the  world  will 
lie  with  the  English  people.  English  institutions,  English 
speech,  English  thought,  will  become  the  main  features  of 
the  political,  the  social,  and  the  intellectual  life  of  man- 
kind. 


ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA  IN  1782 

ALFRED,   LORD   TENNYSON 

0  Thou,  that  sendest  out  the  man 

To  rule  by  land  and  sea, 
Strong  mother  of  a  Lion-line, 
Be  proud  of  those  strong  sons  of  thine 

Who  wrench'd  their  rights  from  thee ! 

What  wonder,  if  in  noble  heat 

Those  men  thine  arms  withstood, 
Eetaught  the  lesson  thou  hadst  taught. 
And  in  thy  spirit  with  thee  fought — 
Who  sprang  from  English  blood! 

But  Thou  rejoice  with  liberal  joy. 

Lift  up  thy  rocky  face, 
And  shatter,  when  the  storms  are  black, 
In  many  a  streaming  torrent  back. 

The  seas  that  shock  thy  base! 

Whatever  harmonies  of  law 

The  growing  world  assume. 
Thy  work  is  thine — the  single  note 
From  that  deep  chord  which  Hampden  smote 

Will  vibrate  to  the  doom. 


216  Builders  of  Democracy 


XII 

HOW  AMERICA  HAS  CARRIED  ON  THE  BUILDING.  OF  THE 
SPIRIT  OF  AMERICA,  AS  SHOWN  IN  THE  TIME  OF  THE  REVO- 
LUTION, AND  IN  LATER  YEARS.  AND  HOW  FREEDOM,  A 
WARRIOR  WHOSE  WARS  ARE  NOT  YET  DONE,  IS  SUMMONED 
ONCE  MORE,  LIKE  BEOWULF,  TO  BATTLE  AGAINST  THE  OLD 
DRAGON. 

"And  the  heart  of  America  shall  interpret  the  heart  of  the  world." 

In  the  selections  that  follow  you  will  find  material  to 
show  how  the  story  of  the  Building  of  Democracy  has  been 
carried  on  in  America  since  1775.  You  will  see  how 
closely  the  story  is  related  to  all  that  has  gone  before.  You 
will  need  to  use  your  history  to  supplement  the  story,  but 
you  will  see  that  history  is  not  made  up  alone  of  what  we 
call  "events" — ^battles,  presidents,  laws  passed,  facts  about 
progress.  These  are  the  outward  forms  only.  A  man  has 
a  certain  outward  form,  is  of  a  certain  height,  weight,  and 
appearance,  wears  clothes  that  are  more  or  less  becoming. 
But  the  real  man  is  something  deeper,  harder  to  perceive. 
It  is  the  difference  between  the  man  as  he  appears  to  us, 
in  a  crowd,  on  the  street,  in  the  cars,  and  the  man  himself. 

So  it  is  with  understanding  America.  We  may  cram  our 
brains  with  facts  about  American  history,  know  dates  and 
battles  and  institutions,  be  able  to  name  the  presidents  and 
their  terms,  know  the  names  of  the  states  and  of  cabinets, 
know  facts  of  population  and  industrial  progress, — we  may 
know  all  these  things  and  yet  not  know  America.  Tliese 
selections  will  help  you  to  understand  the  spirit  of  Amer- 
ica. You  will  find  stories  about  Builders  who  were  men 
of  action.     You  will  also  find  interpretations  of  the  spirit 


I 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        217 

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of  America  by  Builders  who  were  men  of  thought — poets, 
orators,  statesmen. 

We  must  know  this  spirit  of  America,  which  is  one  ex- 
pression of  the  free  spirit  of  Man,  so  that  we  may  be  able 
to  live  up  to  President  Wilson's  noble  statement  of  the  duty 
of  every  American, — "Not  only  to  make  a  living,  but  to 
help  forward  the  great  enterprises  of  the  human  spirit." 


A  VISION  OF  DAYS  TO  COME 

WOODROW  WILSON 

The  peculiarity  of  patriotism  in  America  is  that  it  is  not 
a  mere  sentiment.  It  is  an  active  principle  of  conduct.  It 
is  something  that  was  born  into  the  world,  not  to  please  it 
but  to  regenerate  it.  It  is  something  that  was  born  into  the 
world  to  replace  systems  that  had  preceded  it  and  to  bring 
men  out  upon  a  new  plane  of  privilege.  The  glory  of  the 
men  whose  memories  you  honor  and  perpetuate  is  that  they 
saw  the  vision,  and  it  was  a  vision  of  the  future.  It  was  a 
vision  of  great  days  to  come  when  a  little  handful  of  three 
million  people  upon  the  borders  of  a  single  sea  should  have 
become  a  great  multitude  of  free  men  and  women  spreading 
across  a  great  continent,  dominating  the  shores  of  two 
oceans,  and  sending  West  as  well  as  East  the  influences  of 
individual  freedom.  Such  things  were  consciously  in  their 
minds  as  they  framed  the  great  Government  which  was  born 
out  of  the  American  Revolution ;  and  every  time  we  gather 
to  perpetuate  their  memories,  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  that 
we  shall  be  worthy  of  recalling  them  and  that  we  should 
endeavor  by  every  means  in  our  power  to  emulate  their 
example. 


218  Builders  of  Democracy 

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STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  The  paragraph  is  from  an  address  given  by  the  President 
before  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  Washington, 
October  11,  1915. 

2.  Distinguish  carefully  between  "a  mere  sentiment"  and  "an 
active  principle  of  conduct."  How  may  your  attitude  toward  the 
American  flag  be  merely  "sentiment"?  How  may  it  become  a 
"principle  of  conduct"? 

3.  Commit  to  memory  these  sentences: 

*'The  peculiarity  of  patriotism  in  America  is  that  it  is  not  a 
mere  sentiment.  It  is  an  active  principle  of  conduct.  It  is 
something  that  was  horn  into  the  world,  not  to  please  it,  hut  to 
regenerate  it." 

Be  prepared  to  apply  these  sentences  whenever  possible  in  your 
study  of  the  remaining  portions  of  this  book,  to  all  that  you  learn 
about  America's  part  in  the  war,  and  in  as  many  ways  as  pos- 
sible to  your  owm  life. 

4.  Notice  carefully  Mr.  Wilson's  statement  about  bringing  men 
"out  upon  a  new  plane  of  privilege."  How  is  this  sentence  given 
meaning  from  your  thought  about  "Gray's  Elegy"  and  the  poems 
of  Burns? 

5.  What  does  the  President  mean  by  saying  that  "we  should  be 
worthy  of  recalling  them"? 

LEXINGTON 

JOHN    GREENLEAF   WHITTIER 

No  Berserk  thirst  of  blood  had  they. 

No  battle- joy  was  theirs,  who  set 

Against  the  alien  bayonet 
Their  homespun  breasts  in  that  old  day. 

Their  feet  had  trodden  peaceful  ways ; 

They  loved  not  strife,  they  dreaded  pain; 

They  saw  not,  what  to  ns  is  plain, 
That  God  would  make  man's  wrath  his  praise. 


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No  seers  were  they,  but  simple  men; 

Its  vast  results  the  future  hid : 

The  meaning  of  the  work  they  did 
Was  strange  and  dark  and  doubtful  then. 

Swift  as  their  summons  came  they  left 
The  plow  mid-furrow  standing  still, 
The  half-ground  corn  grist  in  the  mill, 

The  spade  in  earth,  the  axe  in  cleft. 

They  went  where  duty  seemed  to  call, 
They  scarcely  asked  the  reason  why; 
They  only  knew  they  could  but  die, 

And  death  was  not  the  worst  of  all ! 


Of  man  for  man  the  sacrifice, 

All  that  was  theirs  to  give,  they  gave. 
The  flowers  that  blossomed  from  their  grave 

Have  sown  themselves  beneath  all  skies. 


Their  death-shot  shook  the  feudal  tower. 
And  shattered  slaver^s  chain  as  well; 
On  the  sky's  dome,  as  on  a  bell, 

Its  echo  struck  the  world's  great  hour. 

That  fateful  echo  is  not  dumb: 
The  nations  listening  to  its  sound 
Wait,  from  a  century's  vantage-ground.. 

The  holier  triumphs  yet  to  come, — 

The  bridal  time  of  Law  and  Love, 
The  gladness  of  the  world's  release. 
When,  war-sick,  at  the  feet  of  Peace 

The  hawk  shall  nestle  with  the  dove! 


220  Builders  of  Democracy 

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIMMIIIIIIIMIItllinilllllllllllHIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIilll^ 

The  golden  age  of  brotherhood 

Unknown  to  other  rivalries 

Than  of  the  mild  humanities. 
And  gracious  interchange  of  good. 

When  closer  strand  shall  lean  to  strand. 

Till  meet,  beneath  saluting  flags. 

The  eagle  of  our  mountain-crags. 
The  lion  of  our  Motherland! 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Phrases  and  words  to  be  studied,  with  the  aid  of  the  dic- 
tionary if  necessary,  are  "Berserk  thirst";  "alien  bayonet"; 
"homespun  breasts";  "feudal  tower";   "golden  age." 

2.  The  third  stanza  is  important.  When  was  the  battle  of 
Lexington  fought?  How  long  afterwards  was  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  adopted?  What  led  to  the  battle^  of  Lexington  and 
Concord?  Answers  to  these  questions  will  help  you  to  see  why 
to  the  men  who  fought  in  these  early  battles  "the  meaning  of  the 
work  they  did  was  strange  and  dark  and  doubtful  then." 

3.  This  poem  was  written  in  1875.  What  are  the  "holier  tri- 
umphs" to  come  from  "a  century's  vantage-ground"? 

4.  With  the  last  stanza,  compare  the  prophecy  of  the  future 
relations  of  England  and  America  in  the  selection  by  J.  R. 
Green,  pp.  213-215. 

CONCORD  HYMN 

RALPH    WALDO    EMERSON 

By  the  rude  bridge  that  arched  the  flood. 
Their  flag  to  April's  breeze  unfurled, 

Here  once  the  embattled  farmers  stood 

And  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world. 

The  foe  long  since  in  silence  slept; 

Alike  the  conqueror  silent  sleeps; 
And  time  the  ruined  bridge  has  swept 

Down  the  dark  stream  which  seaward  creeps. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        221 

HiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiM 

On  this  green  bank,  by  this  soft  stream, 

We  set  today  a  votive  stone; 
That  memory  may  their  deed  redeem, 

When  like  our  sires,  our  sons  are  gone. 

Spirit,  that  made  those  heroes  dare 
To  die,  and  leave  their  children  free, 

Bid  Time  and  Nature  gently  spare 
The  shaft  we  raise  to  them  and  thee. 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  This  poem  was  sung  at  the  completion  of  the  battle  monu- 
ment at  Concord,  July  4,  1837. 

2.  In  the  light  of  what  you  have  studied  in  this  book,  explain 
why  the  shot  fired  at  Concord  was  heard  round  the  world. 

3.  What  is  a  "votive  stone"? 

4.  What  spirit  is  appealed  to  in  the  last  stanza? 

5.  Commit  to  memory  the  first  and  last  stanzas. 

LIBERTY  OR  DEATH 

PATRICK  HENRY 

Mr.  President, — No  man  thinks  more  highly  than  I  do 
of  the  patriotism,  as  well  as  of  the  abilities,  of  the  very 
worthy  gentlemen  who  have  just  addressed  the  House.  Bui 
different  men  often  see  the  same  subject  in  different  lights; 
and,  therefore,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  thought  disrespectful 
to  those  gentlemen,  if,  entertaining,  as  I  do,  opinions  of  a 
character  very  opposite  from  theirs,  I  shall  speak  forth  my 
sentiments  freely  and  without  reserve.  This  is  no  time  for 
ceremony.  The  question  before  the  House  is  one  of  awful 
moment  to  this  country.  For  my  own  part,  I  consider  it  as 
nothing  less  than  a  question  of  freedom  or  slavery ;  and  in 
proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  subject  ought  to  be 


222  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiniMiiiiniiniMiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiHiiiniiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiinM 

the  freedom  of  the  debate.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  we 
can  hope  to  arrive  at  truth,  and  fulfill  the  great  responsi- 
bility which  we  hold  to  God  and  our  country.  Should  I 
keep  back  my  opinions  at  such  a  time,  through  fear  of  giv- 
ing offence,  I  should  consider  myself  as  guilty  of  treason 
towards  my  country,  and  of  an  act  of  disloyalty  towards  the 
Majesty  of  Heaven,  which  I  revere  above  all  earthly  kings. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  natural  to  man  to  indulge  in  the 
illusions  of  hope.  We  are  apt  to  shut  our  eyes  against  a 
painful  truth,  and  listen  to  the  song  of  that  siren  till  she 
transforms  us  into  beasts.  Is  this  the  part  of  wise  men, 
engaged  in  a  great  and  arduous  struggle  for  liberty?  Are 
we  disposed  to  be  of  the  number  of  those  who,  having  eyes, 
see  not,  and  having  ears,  hear  not,  the  things  which  so 
nearly  concern  their  temporal  salvation?  For  my  part, 
whatever  anguish  of  spirit  it  may  cost,  I  am  willing  to 
know  the  whole  truth;  to  know  the  worst,  and  to  provide 
for  it. 

I  have  but  one  lamp  by  which  my  feet  are  guided;  and 
that  is  the  lamp  of  experience.  I  know  of  no  way  of  judg- 
ing of  the  future  but  by  the  past.  And  judging  by  the 
past,  I  wish  to  know  what  there  has  been  in  the  conduct  of 
the  British  Ministry  for  the  last  ten  years  to  justify  those 
hopes  with  which  gentlemen  have  been  pleased  to  solace 
themselves  and  the  House  ?  Is  it  that  insidious  smile  with 
which  our  petition  has  been  lately  received  ?  Trust  it  not, 
sir;  it  will  prove  a  snare  to  your  feet.  Suffer  not  your- 
selves to  be  betrayed  with  a  kiss.  Ask  yourselves  how  this 
gracious  reception  of  our  petition  comports  with  those 
warlike  preparations  which  cover  our  waters  and  darken 
our  land.     Are  fleets  and  armies  necessary  to  a  work  of 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        223 

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love  and  reconciliation?  Have  we  shown  ourselves  so  un- 
willing to  be  reconciled  that  force  must  be  called  in  to  win 
back  our  love?  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves,  sir.  These 
are  the  implements  of  war  and  subjugation — the  last  argu- 
ments to  which  kings  resort.  I  ask,  sir,  what  means  this 
martial  array,  if  its  purpose  be  not  to  force  us  to  sub- 
mission? Can  gentlemen  assign  any  other  possible  motive 
for  it?  Has  Great  Britain  any  enemy,  in  this  quarter  of 
the  world,  to  call  for  all  this  accumulation  of  navies  and 
armies?  No,  sir,  she  has  none.  They  are  meant  for  us; 
they  can  be  meant  for  no  other.  They  are  sent  over  to 
bind  and  rivet  upon  us  those  chains  which  the  British 
^linistry  have  been  so  long  forging.  And  what  have  we 
to  oppose  to  them  ?  Shall  we  try  argument  ?  Sir,  we  have 
been  trying  that  for  the  last  ten  years.  Have  we  anything 
new  to  offer  upon  the  subject?  Nothing.  We  have  held 
the  subject  up  in  every  light  of  which  it  is  capable ;  but  it 
has  been  all  in  vain.  Shall  we  resort  to  entreaty  and 
humble  supplication?  What  terms  shall  we  find,  which 
have  not  been  already  exhausted?  Let  us  not,  I  beseech 
you,  sir,  deceive  ourselves  longer.  Sir,  we  have  done  every- 
thing that  could  be  done  to  avert  the  storm  which  is  now 
coming  on.  We  have  petitioned;  we  have  remonstrated; 
we  have  supplicated;  we  have  prostrated  ourselves  before 
the  throne,  and  have  implored  its  interposition  to  arrest 
the  tyrannical  hands  of  the  Ministry  and  Parliament. 
Our  petitions  have  been  slighted;  our  remonstrances  have 
produced  additional  violence  and  insult;  our  supplica- 
tions have  been  disregarded;  and  we  have  been  spurned, 
with  contempt,  from  the  foot  of  the  throne !  In  vain,  after 
these  things,  may  we  indulge  the  fond  hope  of  peace  and 


224  Builders  of  Deinocracy 

reconciliation.  There  is  no  longer  any  room  for  hope.  If 
we  wish  to  be  free— if  we  mean  to  preserve  inviolate  those 
inestimable  privileges  for  which  we  have  been  so  long  con- 
tending— if  we  mean  not  basely  to  abandon  the  noble 
struggle  in  which  we  have  been  so  long  engaged,  and  which 
we  have  pledged  ourselves  never  to  abandon,  until  the 
glorious  object  of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained — we  must 
fight !  I  repeat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight !  An  appeal  to  arms 
and  to  the  God  of  Hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us ! 

They  tell  us,  sir,  that  we  are  weak;  unable  to  cope  with 
so  formidable  an  adversary.  But  when  shall  we  be 
stronger?  Will  it  be  the  next  week,  or  the  next  year? 
Will  it  be  when  we  are  totally  disarmed,  and  when  a  British 
guard  shall  be  stationed  in  every  house?  Shall  we  gather 
strength  by  irresolution  and  inaction?  Shall  we  acquire 
the  means  of  effectual  resistance  by  lying  supinely  on  our 
backs  and  hugging  the  delusive  phantom  of  hope  until  our 
enemies  shall  have  bound  us  hand  and  foot? 

Sir,  we  are  not  weak,  if  we  make  a  proper  use  of  those 
means  which  the  God  of  nature  hath  placed  in  our  power. 
Three  millions  of  people,  armed  in  the  holy  cause  of  lib- 
erty, and  in  such  a  country  as  that  which  we  possess,  are 
invincible  by  any  force  which  our  enemy  can  send  against 
us.  Besides,  sir,  we  shall  not  fight  our  battles  alone.  There 
is  a  just  God  who  presides  over  the  destinies  of  nations, 
and  who  will  raise  up  friends  to  fight  our  battles  for  us. 
The  battle,  sir,  is  not  to  the  strong  alone;  it  is  to  the 
vigilant,  the  active,  the  brave.  Besides,  sir,  we  have  no 
election.  If  we  were  base  enough  to  desire  it,  it  is  now 
too  late  to  retire  from  the  contest.  There  is  no  retreat  but 
in  submission  and  slavery !    Our  chains  are  forged !    Th-eir 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        225 

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clanking  may  be  heard  on  the  plains  of  Boston !  The  war 
is  inevitable — and  let  it  come !  I  repeat  it,  sir,  let  it  come ! 
It  is  in  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  matter.  Gentlemen 
may  cry,  Peace,  peace ! — but  there  is  no  peace.  The  war  is 
actually  begun !  The  next  gale  that  sweeps  from  the  north 
will  bring  to  our  ears  the  clash  of  resounding  arms !  Our 
brethren  are  already  in  the  field !  Why  stand  we  here  idle  ? 
What  is  it  that  gentlemen  wish?  WHiat  would  they  have? 
Is  life  so  dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the 
price  of  chains  and  slavery?  Forbid  it.  Almighty  God! 
I  know  not  what  course  others  may  take;  but  as  for  me, 
give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death ! 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Patrick  Henry  delivered  this  speech  at  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention, March  28,  1775.  For  some  years  this  fiery  young  orator 
had  been  active  in  stirring  up  resistance  in  Virginia  to  the 
tyrannical  acts  of  the  crown.  In  1774  the  royal  governor  in  that 
colony  reported  that  every  county  was  arming  a  company  of  men 
for  the  purpose  of  protecting  their  committees,  which  had  been 
formed,  as  in  the  other  colonies,  to  work  out  a  plan  of  co-opera- 
tion against  the  British  government.  In  March,  1775,  the  second 
revolutionary  convention  of  Virginia  met  at  Richmond.  A  reso- 
lution was  offered  to  put  the  colony  into  a  state  of  defense.  Some 
delegates  objected  to  such  radical  action,  and  it  is  to  these  men 
that  Henry  addressed  the  opening  sentences  of  his*  speech. 

2.  Find,  in  your  history,  the  chief  acts  of  the  British  ministry, 
during  the  ten  years  prior  to  March,  1775,  which  Mr.  Henry  had 
in  mind  in  the  third  paragraph  of  his  speech. 

3.  In  the  last  paragraph,  explain  "the  next  gale  that  sweeps 
from  the  north."     What  "brethren"  are  referred  to? 

4.  Make  an  outline  of  the  arguments  by  which  Mr.  Henry 
sought  to  convince  the  delegates  of  the  need  of  immediate  action. 

5.  The  resolution  was  passed.     The  chief  command  of  the  Vir- 


226  Builders  of  Democracy 

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ginia  forces  was  offered  to  Colonel  Washington,  who  responded 
to  the  invitation  with  the  words:  "It  is  my  full  intention  to 
devote  my  life  and  fortune  to  the  cause  we  are  engaged  in." 

ACCEPTANCE  OF  APPOINTMENT  AS  COMMANDER-IN- 
CHIEF 

GEOKGE    WASHINGTON 

To  the  President  of  Congress — Mr.  President :  Though 
I  am  truly  sensible  of  the  high  honor  done  me,  in  this  ap- 
pointment, yet  I  feel  great  distress,  from  a  consciousness 
that  my  abilities  and  military  experience  may  not  be  equal 
to  the  extensive  and  important  trust.  However,  as  the 
Congress  desire  it,  I  will  enter  upon  the  momentous  duty, 
and  exert  every  power  I  possess  in  their  service,  and  for 
the  support  of  the  glorious  cause.  I  beg  they  will  accept 
my  most  cordial  thanks  for  this  distinguished  testimony 
of  their  approbation.  But,  lest  some  unlucky  event  should 
happen,  unfavorable  to  my  reputation,  I  beg  it  may  be  re- 
membered by  every  gentleman  in  the  room,  that  I,  this 
day,  declare  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  I  do  not  think 
myself  equal  to  the  command  I  am  honored  with. 

As  to  pay,  sir,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  the  Congress,  that, 
as  no  pecuniary  consideration  could  have  tempted  me  to 
accept  this  arduous  employment  at  the  expense  of  my  do- 
mestic ease  and  happiness,  I  do  not  wish  to  make  any  profit 
from  it.  I  will  keep  an  exact  account  of  my  expenses. 
Those,  I  doubt  not,  they  will  discharge;  and  that  is  all  I 
desire. 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  The  Congress  met  at  Philadelphia,  May  10,  1775.  Colonel 
Washington  was  a  delegate,  and  appeared  in  his  provincial  uni- 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        227 

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form.     On   June    15,  the  Congress  chose  him   as   commander-in- 
chief  of  the  American  forces. 

2.  Note  that  General  Washington's  refusal  of  pay  for  his  serv- 
ices made  him  the  first  of  the  "dollar  a  year"  men  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States. 


THE  LIBERTY  TREE 

(Published  in  The  Pennsylvania  Magazine  in  1775) 
In  a  chariot  of  light  from  the  regions  of  day. 

The  Goddess  of  Liberty  came; 
Ten  thousand  celestials  directed  the  way, 

And  hither  conducted  the  dame. 
A  fair  budding  branch  from  the  gardens  above. 

Where  millions  with  millions  agree, 
She  brought  in  lier  hand  as  a  pledge  of  her  love. 

And  the  plant  she  named  Liberty  Tree. 

The  celestial  exotic  struck  deep  in  the  ground. 

Like  a  native  it  flourished  and  bore; 
The  fame  of  its  fruit  drew  the  nations  around, 

To  seek  out  this  peaceable  shore. 
Unmindful  of  names  or  distinctions  they  came, 

For  freemen  like  brothers  agree ; 
With  one  spirit  endued,  they  one  friendship  pursued. 

And  their  temple  was  Liberty  Tree. 

Beneath  this  fair  tree,  like  the  patriarchs  of  old. 

Their  bread  in  contentment  they  ate, 
Un vexed  with  the  troubles  of  silver  and  gold, 

The  cares  of  the  grand  and  the  great. 
With  timber  and  tar  they  old  England  supplied, 

And  supported  her  power  on  the  sea ; 
Her  battles  they  fought,  without  getting  a  groat, 

For  the  honor  of  Liberty  Tree. 


228  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiininuiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiuiiiiniiiiiiuiiiiiiniiiiiiiiUHiiiiiiiuiiniuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiMit^^ 

But  hear,  0  ye  swains,  'tis  a  tale  most  profane. 

How  all  the  tyrannical  powers, 
Kings,  Commons,  and  Lords,  are  uniting  amain. 

To  cut  down  this  guardian  of  ours; 
From  the  east  to  the  west  blow  the  trumpet  to  arms. 

Through  the  land  let  the  sound  of  it  flee, 
Let  the  far  and  the  near,  all  unite  with  a  cheer. 

In  defense  of  our  Liberty  Tree. 

WASHINGTON   ANTICIPATES  THE   DECLARATION 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

With  respect  to  myself,  I  have  never  entertained  an 
idea  of  an  accommodation,  since  I  heard  of  the  measures 
which  were  adopted  in  consequence  of  the  Bunker  Hill 
fight.  The  King's  speech  has  confirmed  the  sentiments  I 
entertained  upon  the  news  of  that  affair;  and,  if  every 
man  was  of  my  mind,  the  ministers  of  Great  Britain  should 
know,  in  a  few  words,  upon  what  issue  the  cause  should 
be  put.  I  would  not  be  deceived  by  artful  declarations,  nor 
specious  pretenses ;  nor  would  I  be  amused  by  the  unmean- 
ing propositions;  but  in  open,  undisguised,  and  manly 
terms  proclaim  our  wrongs,  and  our  resolution  to  be  re- 
dressed. I  would  tell  them,  that  we  had  borne  much,  that 
we  had  long  and  ardently  sought  for  reconciliation  upon 
honorable  terms,  that  it  had  been  denied  us,  that  all  our 
attempts  after  peace  had  proved  abortive,  and  had  been 
grossly  misrepresented,  that  we  had  done  everything  which 
could  be  expected  from  the  best  of  subjects,  that  the  spirit 
of  freedom  rises  too  high  in  us  to  submit  to  slavery,  and 
that,  if  nothing  else  would  satisfy  a  tyrant  and  his  dia- 
bolical ministry,  we  are  determined  to  shake  off  all  con- 
.nections  with  a  state  so  unjust  and  unnatural.     This  I 


The  Builders  mid  Their  Work        229 

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would  tell  them,  not  under  covert,  but  in  words  as  clear 
as  the  sun  in  its  meridian  bris^htness.  . 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  This  paragraph  is  taken  from  a  letter  written  by  General 
Washington  in  February,  1776.  The  people  in  the  colonies  were 
divided  in  opinion.  Many,  especially  in  the  middle  colonies,  were 
loyal  to  the  British  government.  Many  others  thought  of  the 
resistance  that  had  been  made,  at  Lexington,  Bunker  Hill,  and 
ilsewhere,  as  merely  a  protest;  they  had  no  idea  of  separation. 
But  Washington  saw  from  the  first  that  independence  should  be 
declared,  "in  words  as  clear  as  the  sun,"  not  only  for  the  effect 
in  England,  but  as  a  means  for  bringing  Americans  into  unity 
of  thought.  With  this  unity  would  come  realization  of  the  diffi- 
culty of  the  task  before  them.  A  great  task,  like  a  great  vision 
from  a  mountain  top,  does  not  reveal  itself  at  once.  It  is  only 
after  one  has  climbed. 

2.  Study  this  paragraph  for  the  vigor  and  intensity  of  its  lan- 
guage. It  is  the  language  of  a  man  of  action  who  also  has  the 
power  to  think  and  speak  clearly. 

FROM  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 

THOMAS    JEFFERSON 

When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  neces- 
sary for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which 
have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  assume,  among 
the  powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to 
which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them, 
a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that 
they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the 
separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident:  That  all  men 
are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 


230  Builders  of  Democracy 

niiiiiiiiriiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

with  certain  unalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  That,  to  secure 
these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriv- 
ing their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed; 
that,  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destruc- 
tive of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its 
foundation  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  powers 
in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect 
their  safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate 
that  governments  long  established  should  not  be  changed 
for  light  and  transient  causes;  and  accordingly  all  experi- 
ence hath  shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer 
while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abol- 
ishing the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  But  when 
a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  invariably 
the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under 
absolute  despotism,  it  is  -their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to 
throw  off  such  government,  and  to  provide  new  guards  for 
their  future  security.  Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance 
of  these  colonies;  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which 
constrains  them  to  alter  their  former  systems  of  govern- 
ment. The  history  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is 
a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having 
in  direct  object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny 
over  these  states.  To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to 
a  candid  world. 

[Here  is  given  a  list  of  the  wrongs  suffered  by  the  col- 
onies at  the  hands  of  the  British  Government.] 

We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  in  General  Congress  assembled,  appealing  to 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        231 

IIMUIMIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIhlllllllllinillllllMIIIIMIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllirilllllllllllllllllllllllll 

the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  do,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  good 
people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare. 
That  these  united  colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be, 
free  and  independent  states;  that  they  are  absolved  from 
all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all  political 
connection  between  them  and  the  state  of  Great  Britain  is, 
and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved;  and  that,  as  free  and 
independent  states,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  con- 
clude peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  do 
all  other  acts  and  things  which  independent  states  may  of 
right  do.  And,  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  with  a 
firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we 
mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  lives.  Our  fortunes,  and 
our  sacred  honor. 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  prepared  by  a  com- 
mittee of  which  Thomas  Jefferson  was  chairman,  and  the  actual 
composition  was  done  by  Jefferson.  It  was  reported  to  Congress 
on  the  second  of  July  and  on  the  fourth  was  adopted  after  a 
debate  in  which  some  portions  of  the  original  draft  were  cut  out. 
John  Adams,  writing  to  his  wife  about  it,  used  these  words : 

"Yesterday  the  greatest  question  was  decided  which  ever  was 
debated  in  America,  and  a  greater,  perhaps,  never  was  nor  will 
be  decided  among  men.  A  resolution  was  passed  without  one 
dissenting  colony,  that  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states.  .  .  .  The  second  day  of 
July,  1776,  will  be  the  most  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of 
America.  I  am  apt  to  believe  that  it  will  be  celebrated  by  suc- 
ceeding generations  as  the  great  anniversary  festival.  It  ought 
to  be  commemorated,  as  the  day  of  deliverance,  by  solemn  acts  of 
devotion  to  God  Almighty.     It  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp 


232  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiimiiiiMiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiniiiiiuiiiiiiuiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiniininniiiiuniiiiiiiu 

and  parade,  with  shows,  games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and 
illuminations,  from  one  end  of  this  continent  to  the  other,  from 
this  time  forward,  forevermore.  You  will  think  me  transported 
with  enthusiasm^  but  I  am  not.  I  am  aware  of  the  toil,  and 
blood,  and  treasure,  that  it  will  cost  us  to  maintain  this  declara- 
tion and  support  and  defend  these  states.  Yet,  through  all  the 
gloom,  I  can  see  the  rays  of  ravishing  light  and  glory." 

2.  In  the  first  paragraph  observe  the  following  very  important 
matters :  ( a )  that  the  action  taken  to  create  a  new  nation  is  the 
action  of  the  people.  That  is,  a  nation  is  formed  not  by  agree- 
ments among  other  governments  or  by  the  will  of  a  ruler  or  a  set 
of  rulers,  but  by  the  will  of  the  people  making  up  that  nation. 
To  make  this  clear,  remember,  for  example,  that  the  wars  between 
England  and  France  in  the  old  days,  were  wars  between  kings. 
Henry  V  thought  he  had  a  right  to  the  territory  of  France,  there- 
fore he  made  war  to  secure  that  territory, — the  people  were  not 
consulted.  So  also,  Philip  of  Spain  thought  he  could  secure  a 
claim  to  England  by  marriage  with  the  English  Queen.  In  recent 
years,  one  method  pursued  by  Germany  has  been  to  get  members 
of  the  German  royal  family  on  the  thrones  of  the  weaker  nations 
in  southeastern  Europe.  Another  German  method  has  been  to 
form,  by  arbitrary  action,  new  states,  to  be  controlled  by  German 
influence.  And  the  "treaty"  with  Russia  established  a  number 
of  such  "nations."  In  no  case  has  the  will  of  the  peoples  been 
considered.  But  the  United  States  has  gone  on  record,  in  recent 
months^  as  standing  for  what  is  called  "self-determination  of 
peoples";  that  is,  for  the  principle  that  a  people  has  the  right 
to  determine  for  itself  what  government  it  will  live  under.  This 
principle  is  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

(b)  The  same  idea  is  phrased  in  the  second  paragraph:  "gov- 
ernments are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

(c)  The  political  equality  defined  in  the  second  paragraph  re- 
fers to  all  men.  Thus  we  have  an  answer  to  the  questions  asked 
on  pages  172,  173.  The  English  Revolution  of  1688  set  Parliament 
above  King  as  the  representative  of  the  people.  America  defined 
who  the  people  are. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        233 

iiiiii:iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiii»iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin^ 

(d)  This  idea  of  political  equality  is  also  in  Burns's  poem  "A 
Man's  a  Man,"  which  though  a  poem  is  also  a  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Our  American  Declaration  is  the  outgrowth,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  of  a  long  course  of  development. 

(e)  The  Declaration  plainly  is  directed  against  "the  present 
King  of  Great  Britain"  who  is  said  to  be  guilty  of  "repeated  in- 
juries and  usurpations,  all  having  in  direct  object  the  establish- 
ment of  an  absolute  tyranny,"         * 

(f)  Now  try  to  imagine  these  thirteen  colonies,  each  with  its 
own  peculiar  form  of  government,  with  differences  in  customs  and 
employment,  widely  separated  and  with  far  less  ready  communica- 
tion than  nations  have  today  (Boston  was  farther  from  James- 
town in  time  than  Washington  is  now  from  London  or  Paris) — try 
to  imagine  these  separate  states  forming  a  confederation,  or  league 
of  nations  against  a  tyrant  who  sought  to  reduce  them  to  his  own 
ideas  of  government.  Then  try  to  see  the  relationship  between 
that  situation  and  the  present.  The  kaiser  is  the  George  III  of 
the  present  day.  The  allied  nations,  free  governments,  separate 
peoples,  are  in  the  place  of  the  Colonies  in  1776.  The  kaiser  re- 
jects the  idea  of  self-determination  of  peoples.  He  would  reduce 
all  these  nations  to  his  own  control,  as  dependencies  of  Germany. 
But  the  free  nations  have  formed  a  League,  or  Confederation 
against  him.     It  is  a  new  War  of  Independence. 

And  out  of  it  will  grow  what  President  Wilson  has  called  "the 
Un4,ted  Peoples  of  the  World." 

3.  Find  out  what  you  can  about  the  proposed  "League  to  En- 
force Peace." 

SUPPOSED  SPEECH  OF  JOHN  ADAMS 

DANIEL    WEBSTER 

Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  give  my 
hand  and  my  heart  to  this  vote.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  in 
the  beginning  we  aimed  not  at  independence.  But  there 
is  a  divinity  which  shap^es  our  ends.  The  injustice  of  Eng- 
land has  driven  us  to  arms ;  and,  blinded  to  her  own  inter- 


234  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiriiiiiiiii iiiiiiii mil I iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

est,  she  has  obstinately  persisted,  till  independence  is  now 
within  onr  grasp.  We  have  but  to  reach  forth  to  it,  and 
it  is  ours.    Why,  then,  should  we  defer  the  declaration? 

If  we  postpone  independence,  do  we  mean  to  carry  on 
or  to  give  up  the  war?  Do  we  mean  to  submit,  and  con- 
sent that  we  shall  be  ground  to  powder,  and  our  country 
and  its  rights  trodden  down  in  the  dust?  I  know  we  do 
not  mean  to  submit.    We  never  shall  submit ! 

The  war,  then,  must  go  on;  we  must  fight  it  through. 
And  if  the  war  must  go  on,  why  put  off  the  declaration  of 
independence  ?  That  measure  will  strengthen  us.  It  will 
give  us  character  abroad.  Nations  will  then  treat  with  us, 
which  they  never  can  do  while  we  acknowledge  ourselves 
subjects  in  arms  against  our  sovereign. 

If  we  fail,  it  can  be  no  worse  for  us.  But  we  shall  not 
fail.  The  cause  will  raise  up  armies ;  the  cause  will  create 
navies.  The  people — the  people,  if  we  are  true  to  them, 
will  carry  us,  and  will  carry  themselves,  gloriously  through 
this  struggle.  I  care  not  how  fickle  other  people  have  been 
found.  I  know  the  people  of  these  colonies;  and  I  know 
that  resistance  to  British  aggression  is  deep  and  settled 
in  their  hearts,  and  cannot  be  eradicated. 
•  Sir,  the  declaration  of  independence  will  inspire  the 
people  with  increased  courage.  Instead  of  a  long  and 
bloody  war  for  the  restoration  of  privileges,  for  redress  of 
grievances,  set  before  them  the  glorious  object  of  entire 
independence,  and  it  will  breathe  into  them  anew  the  spirit 
of  life. 

Eead  this  declaration  at  the  head  of  the  army;  every 
sword  will  be  drawn,  and  the  solemn  vow  uttered  to  main- 
tain it  or  perish  on  the  bed  of  honor.    Publish  it  from  the 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        235 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

pulpit;  religion  will  approve  it,  and  the  love  of  religious 
liberty  will  cling  around  it,  resolved  to  stand  with  it,  or 
fall  with  it.  Send  it  to  the  public  halls;  proclaim  it  there; 
].'t  them  see  it,  who  saw  their  brothers  and  their  sons  fall 
on  the  field  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  in  the  streets  of  Lexington 
and  Concord,  and  the  very  walls  will  cry  out  in  its  support. 

Sir,  I  know  the  uncertainty  of  human  affairs,  but  I  see, 
I  see  clearly  through  this  day's  business.  You  and  I,  in- 
deed, may  rue  it.  "We  may  not  live  to  see  the  time  this 
declaration  shall  be  made  good.  We  may  die;  die  colon- 
ists; die  slaves;  die,  it  may  be  ignominiously,  and  on  the 

I  [fold.  Be  it  so:  be  it  so.  If  it  be  the  pleasure  of 
1  leaven  that  my  country  shall  require  the  poor  offering  of 
my  life,  the  victim  shall  be  ready  at  the  appointed  hour 
oi'  sacrifice,  come  when  that  hour  may.  But  while  I  do 
live,  let  me  have  a  country,  or  at  least  the  hope  of  a  coun- 
try, and  that  a  free  country. 

But  whatever  may  be  our  fate,  be  assured — ^be  assured 
that  this  declaration  will  stand.  It  may  cost  treasure,  and 
it  may  cost  blood ;  but  it  will  stand,  and  it  will  richly  com- 
pensate for  both.  Through  the  thick  gloom  of  the  present 
I  see  the  brightness  of  the  future,  as  the  sun  in  heaven. 
,  We  shall  make  this  a  glorious,  an  immortal  day.  When  we 
are  in  our  graves,  our  children  will  honor  it.  They  will 
celebrate  it  with  thanksgiving,  with  festivity,  with  bon- 
fires, and  illuminations.  On  its  annual  return  they  will 
shed  tears,  copious,  gushing  tears;  not  of  subjection  and 
slavery,  not  of  agony  and  distress,  but  of  exultation,  of 
gratitude,  and  of  joy. 

Sir,  before  God,  I  believe  the  hour  is  come.  My  judg- 
ment approves  the  measure,  and  my  whole  heart  is  in  it. 


236  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiuiiiMiiMiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiHniiiiiniiuiiiMuiiiiiuniiiiiiiiiniuniiiiiiniiuiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuim^^^^ 

All  that  I  have,  and  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I  hope  in 
this  life,  I  am  now  ready  here  to  stake  upon  it ;  and  I  leave 
off  as  I  began,  that,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  am  for 
the  declaration.  It  is  my  living  sentiment,  and,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  it  shall  be  my  dying  sentiment;  indepen- 
dence now,  and  independence  forever. 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

This  passage  is  from  an  address  on  Adams  and  Jefferson,  de- 
livered by  Webster  in  Boston  in  1826.  No  record  exists  of  any 
speech  in  support  of  the  Declaration  by  John  Adams,  but  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Committee  appointed  to  frame  it,  and  both  the 
phrasing  and  the  ideas  in  the  supposed  speech  follow  closely  some 
of  Adams'  writings  about  the  events  of  July  2-4,  1776.  Com- 
pare, for  example,  the  extract  from  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Adams 
given  oh  p.  231. 

HALE  IN  THE  BUSH 

The  breezes  went  steadily  through  the  tall  pines, 
A-saying  "Oh!  hu-ush!"  a-saying  "Oh!  hu-ush!" 

As  stilly  stole  by  a  bold  legion  of  horse. 
For  Hale  in  the  bush,  for  Hale  in  the  bush. 

"Keep  still  ?'  said  the  thrush,  as  she  nestled  her  young 
In  a  nest  by  the  road,  in  a  nest  by  the  road ; 

"For  the  tyrants  are  near,  and  with  them  appear 
What  bodes  us  no  good,  what  bodes  us  no  good." 

The  brave  captain  heard  it,  and  thought  of  his  home 
In  a  cot  by  the  brook,  in  a  cot  by  the  brook ; 

With  mother  and  sister  and  memories  dear. 
He  so  gaily  forsook,  he  so  gaily  forsook. 

Cooling  shades  of  the  night  were  coming  apace. 

The  tattoo  had  beat,  the  tattoo  had  beat : 
The  noble  one  sprang  from  his  dark  lurking-place 
To  make  his  retreat,  to  make  his  retreat. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        237 

Mini Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 

He  warily  trod  on  the  dry  rustling  leaves, 

As  he  passed  through  the  wood,  as  he  passed  through 
the  wood. 
And  silently  gained  his  rude  launch  on  the  shore, 
As  she  played  with  the  flood,  as  she  played  with  the 
flood. 

The  guards  of  the  camp  on  that  dark  dreary  night, 
Had  a  murderous  will,  had  a  murderous  will : 

They  took  him  and  bore  him  afar  from  the  shore. 
To  a  hut  on  the  hill,  to  a  hut  on  the  hill. 

No  mother  was  there,  nor  a  friend  who  could  cheer, 
In  that  little  stone  cell,  in  that  little  stone  cell; 

But  he  trusted  in  love  from  his  Father  above — 
In  his  heart  all  was  well,  in  his  heart  all  was  well. 

An  ominous  owl  with  his  solemn  bass  voice 
Sat  moaning  hard  by,  sat  moaning  hard  by : 

"The  tyrant's  proud  minions  most  gladly  rejoice. 
For  he  must  soon  die,  for  he  must  soon  die." 

The  brave  fellow  told  them,  no  thing  he  restrained, — 
The  cruel  gen'ral;  the  cruel  gen'ral! — 

His  errand  from  camp,  of  the  ends  to  be  gained, 
And  said  that  was  all,  and  said  that  was  all. 

They  took  him  and  bound  him  and  bore  him  away, 
Down  the  hill's  grassy  side,  down  the  hill's  grassy  side. 

'Twas  there  the  base  hirelings,  in  royal  array. 
His  cause  did  deride,  his  cause  did  deride. 

Five  minutes  were  given,  short  moments,  no  more, 

For  him  to  repent,  for  him  to  repent. 
He  prayed  for  his  mother — ^he  asked  not  another, — 

To  heaven  he  went,  to  heaven  he  went. 


238  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiitiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiHiMitiiiiuniiiiiMiiiMiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 

The  faith  of  a  martjrr  the  tragedy  showed, 

As  he  trod  the  last  stage,  as  he  trod  the  last  stage. 

And  Britons  will  shudder  at  gallant  Hale's  blood, 
As  his  words  do  presage,  as  his  words  do  presage : 

^'Thon  pale  king  of  terrors,  thou  life's  gloomy  foe. 
Go  frighten  the  slave,  go  frighten  the  slave ; 

Tell  tyrants,  to  you  their  allegiance  they  owe — 
No  fears  for  the  brave,  no  fears  for  the  brave !" 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

The  author  of  this  ballad  is  unknown.  It  is  a  good  example 
of  the  ballad,  since  it  is  a  story,  told  in  verse,  of  an  event  that 
powerfully  moved  the  people  who  knew  about  it.  One  of  these 
people  composed  the  ballad.  The  poem  is  a  tribute  to  Nathan 
Hale,  who  was  hanged  as  a  spy  in  September,  1776.  You  remem- 
ber his  dying  words:  "I  only  regret  that  I  have  but  one  life  to 
give  for  my  country!" 

TIMES   THAT   TRY  MEN'S   SOULS 

THOMAS   PAINE  J 

These  are  the  times  that  try  men's  souls.  The  summer 
soldier  and  the  sunshine  patriot  will,  in  this  crisis,  shrink 
from  the  service  of  his  country ;  but  he  that  stands  it  now, 
deserves  the  love  and  thanks  of  man  and  woman.  Tyranny, 
like  hell,  is  not  easily  conquered;  yet  we  have  this  consola- 
tion with  us,  that  the  harder  the  conflict,  the  more  glorious 
the  triumph.  What  we  obtain  too  cheap,  we  esteem  too 
lightly;  'tis  dearness  only  that  gives  everything  its  value. 
Heaven  knows  how  to  put  a  proper  price  upon  its  goods ;  it 
would  be  strange  indeed,  if  so  celestial  an  article  as  free- 
dom should  not  be  highly  rated.  Britain,  with  an  army  to 
enforce  her  tyranny,  has  declared  that  she  has  a  right,  not 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        239 

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only  to  tax,  but  to  "bind  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever/'  and 
if  being  bound  in  that  manner  is  not  slavery,  then  is  there 
not  such  a  thing  as  slavery  upon  earth.  Even  the  expres- 
sion is  impious,  for  so  unlimited  a  power  can  belong  only 
to  God. 

I  have  as  little  superstition  in  me  as  any  man  living,  but 
my  secret  opinion  has  been,  and  still  is  that  God  Almighty 
will  not  give  up  a  people  to  military  destruction,  or  leave 
them  unsupportedly  to  perish,  who  have  so  earnestly  and 
so  repeatedly  sought  to  avoid  the  calamities  of  war,  by 
every  decent  method  which  wisdom  could  invent. 

I  once  felt  all  that  kind  of  anger,  which  a  man  ought  to 
feel,  against  the  mean  principles  that  are  held  by  the  tories : 
a  noted  one,  who  kept  a  tavern  at  Amboy,  was  standing  at 
his  door,  with  as  pretty  a  child  in  his  hand,  about  eight 
or  nine  years  old,  as  I  ever  saw,  and  after  speaking  his 
mind  as  freely  as  he  thought  was  prudent,  finished  with 
this  unfatherly  expression,  "Well!  give  me  peace  in  my 
day."  Not  a  man  lives  on  the  continent  but  fully  believes 
that  a  separation  must  some  time  or  other  finally  take 
place,  and  a  generous  parent  should  have  said,  "If  there 
must  be  trouble,  let  it  be  in  my  day,  that  my  child  may 
have  peace" ;  and  his  single  reflection,  well  applied,  is  suf- 
ficient to  awaken  every  man  to  duty.  Not  a  place  upon 
earth  might  be  so  happy  as  America.  Her  situation  is  re- 
mote from  all  the  wrangling  world,  and  she  has  nothing  to 
do  but  to  trade  with  them.  A  man  can  distinguish  in  him- 
self between  temper  and  principle,  and  I  am  as  confident, 
as  I  am  that  God  governs  the  world,  that  America  will 
nover  be  happy  till  she  gets  clear  of  foreign  dominion. 
V/ars,  without  ceasing,  will  break  out  till  that  period  ar- 


240  Builders  of  Democracy 

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rives,  and  the  continent  must  in  the  end  be  conqueror; 
for  though  the  flame  of  liberty  may  sometimes  cease  to 
shine,  the  coal  can  never  expire. 

The  heart  that  feels  not  now,  is  dead ;  the  blood  of  his 
children  will  curse  his  cowardice,  who  shrinks  back  at  a 
time  when  a  little  might  have  saved  the  whole,  and  made 
them  happy.  I  love  the  man  that  can  smile  in  trouble, 
that  can  gather  strength  from  distress,  and  grow  brave  by 
reflection.  'Tis  the  business  of  little  minds  to  shrink;  but 
he  whose  heart  is  firm,  and  whose  conscience  approves  his 
conduct,  will  pursue  his  principles  unto  death.  My  own 
line  of  reasoning  is  to  myself  as  straight  and  clear  as  a 
ray  of  light.  Not  all  the  treasures  of  the  world,  so  far  as  I 
believe,  could  have  induced  me  to  support  an  offensive  war, 
for  I  think  it  murder;  but  if  a  thief  breaks  into  my  house, 
burns  and  destroys  my  property,  and  kills  or  threatens  to 
kill  me,  or  those  that  are  in  it,  and  to  '^Dind  me  in  all  cases 
whatsoever^'  to  his  absolute  will,  am  I  to  suffer  it?  ^Hiat 
signifies  it  to  me,  whether  he  who  does  it  is  a  king  or  a 
common  man;  my  countryman  or  not  my  countryman; 
whether  it  be  done  by  an  individual  villain,  or  an  army  of 
them?  If  we  reason  to  the  root  of  things  we  shall  find 
no  difference;  neither  can  any  just  cause  be  assigned  why 
we  should  punish  in  the  one  case  and  pardon  in  the  other. 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  These  paragraphs  come  from  a  pamphlet  called  "The 
Crisis,"  published  in  1776  by  Thomas  Paine.  To  appreciate  it 
you  should  keep  in  mind  the  two-fold  nature  of  the  crisis  that 
confronted  General  Washington  in  1776.  He  had  lost  the  battle 
of  Long  Island,  had  lost  an  army  under  General  Greene  at  Fort 
Washington,  had  been  compelled  to  retreat  from  New  York  to- 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        241 

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ward  Philadelphia.  Thus  the  military  situation  was  very  bad. 
The  political  situation  was  equally  dark.  Philadelphia  was  the 
center  of  royalist  activities.  Many  people  hoped  that  England 
would  win.  Washington's  retreat  across  New  Jersey  was  met 
by  no  sympathy.  His  soldiers,  who  had  enlisted  for  short  terms, 
were  encouraged  to  desert  or  to  resign  at  the  end  of  their  terms. 
Thus  it  was' a  time  that  indeed  tried  men's  souls. 

2.  Find  in  these  paragraphs  sentences  that  show  how  Paine's 
pamphlet  was  designed  to  help  meet  the  crisis  just  explained. 

3.  Washington  ordered  this  pamphlet  read  before  every  com- 
pany of  soldiers  in  his  army.  Why  did  he  do  this?  What  effect 
do  you  think  it  must  have  had? 

4.  In  what  ways  do  Paine's  words  seem  to  you  of  use  now? 
Memorize  sentences  that  might  be  made  part  of  a  "Four-Minute 
^l>eech"  about  the  war. 


SONG  OF  MARION'S  MEN 

WILLIAM    CULLEN    BBYANT 

Our  band  is  few  but  true  and  tried. 

Our  leader  frank  and  bold ; 
The  British  soldier  trembles 

When  Marion^s  name  is  told. 
Our  fortress  is  the  good  greenwood, 

Our  tent  the  cjrpress-tree ; 
We  know  the  forest  round  us, 

As  seamen  know  the  sea. 
We  know  its  walls  of  thorny  vines, 

Its  glades  of  reedy  grass. 
Its  safe  and  silent  island? 

Within  the  dark  morass. 


Woe  to  the  English  soldiery 
That  little  dread  us  near ! 

On  them  shall  light  at  midnight 
A  strange  and  sudden  fear: 


242  Builders  of  Democracy 

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When,  waking  to  their  tents  on  fire, 

They  grasp  their  arms  in  vain, 
And  they  who  stand  to  face  us 

Are  beat  to  earth  again; 
And  they  who  fly  in  terror  deem 

A  mighty  host  behind. 
And  hear  the  tramp  of  thousands 

Upon  the  hollow  wind. 

Then  sweet  the  hours  that  bring  release 

From  danger  and  from  toil : 
We  talk  the  battle  over. 

And  share  the  battle's  spoil. 
The  woodland  rings  with  laugh  and  shout. 

As  if  a  hunt  were  up. 
And  woodland  flowers  are  gathered 

To  crown  the  soldier's  cup. 
With  merry  songs  we  mock  the  wind 

That  in  the  pine-top  grieves. 
And  slumber  long  and  sweetly 

On  beds  of  oaken  leaves. 

Well  knows  the  fair  and  friendly  moon 

The  band  that  Marion  leads — 
The  glitter  of  their  rifles, 

The  scampering  of  their  steeds. 
^Tis  life  to  guide  the  fiery  barb 

Across  the  moonlight  plain ; 
'Tis  life  to  feel  the  night-wind 

That  lifts  the  tossing  mane 
A  moment  in  the  British  camp — 

A  moment^and  away 
Back  to  the  pathless  forest. 

Before  the  peep  of  day. 

Grave  men  there  are  by  broad  Santee, 
Grave  men  with  hoary  hairs ; 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        243 

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Their  hearts  are  all  with  Marion, 

For  Marion  are  their  prayers. 
And  lovely  ladies  greet  our  band 

With  kindliest  welcoming. 
With  smiles  like  those  of  summer, 

And  tears  like  those  of  spring. 
For  them  we  wear  these  trusty  arms, 

And  lay  them  down  no  more 
Till  we  have  driven  the  Briton, 

Forever,  from  our  shore. 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Here  is  another  "little  picture"  of  the  Revolution  period. 
Oeneral  Francis  Marion  was  a  sort  of  Robin  Hood,  a  popular 
hero,  leader  of  a  band  of  men  who  worried  the  victorious  British 
troops  in  the  Carolinas  in  1780-81  and  assisted  in  driving  Corn- 
wallis  north,  where  he  surrendered  at  Yorktown  in  1781. 

2.  Look  up  the  history  of  the  campaign  in  the  South  in  1780-81. 
They  were  dark  days, — the  loss  of  Cliarleston;  the  disaster  to 
Gates  at  Camden;  the  weakness  of  the  Congress;  the  treason  of 
Arnold;  then  the  triumph  of  General  Greene  and  the  total  col- 
lapse of  British  power  in  the  South. 

3.  The  poem  shows  admirably  the  way  in  which  the  small  ir- 
regular forces  of  Marion  could  annoy  and  even  defeat  the  trained 
troops  of  Cornwallis.  They  knew  the  sparsely  settled  country, — • 
"Our  fortress  is  the  good  greenwood."  The  poem  also  shows  the 
spirit  of  Marion's  men — like  the  merry  men  in  Robin  Hood's  band. 


LAFAYETTE 

ROBERT   C.   WINTHROP 

Nearly  two  years  before  the  treaties  of  Franklin  were 
negotiated  and  signed,  the  young  Lafayette,  then  but  nine- 


244  Builders  of  Democracy 

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teen  years  of  age,  a  captain  of  French  dragoons,  stationed 
at  Metz,  at  a  dinner  given  by  the  commandant  of  the  gar- 
rison to  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  a  brother  of  George  III, 
happened  to  hear  the  tidings  of  our  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, which  had  reached  the  Duke  that  very  day  from 
London.  It  formed  the  subject  of  animated  and  excited 
conversation,  in  which  the  enthusiastic  young  soldier  took 
part,  and  before  he  had  left  the  table  an  inextinguishable 
spark  had  been  struck  and  kindled  in  his  breast,  and  his 
whole  heart  was  on  fire  in  the  cause  of  American  liberty. 
Regardless  of  the  remonstrances  of  his  friends,  of  the  min- 
istry, and  of  the  king  himself,  in  spite  of  every  discour- 
agement and  obstacle,  he  soon  tears  himself  away  from  a 
young  and  lovely  wife,  leaps  on  board  a  vessel  which  he 
had  provided  for  himself,  braves  the  perils  of  a  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic,  then  swarming  with  cruisers,  reaches 
Philadelphia  by  way  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and 
so  wins  at  once  the  regard  and  confidence  of  the  Conti- 
nental. Congress  by  his  avowed  desire  to  risk  his  life  in  our 
service,  at  his  own  expense,  without  pay  or  allowance  of 
any  sort,  that,  on  the  31st  of  July,  1777,  before  he  was 
yet  quite  twenty  years  of  age,  he  was  commissioned  a 
major-general  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  from  that  dinner  at 
Metz,  and  that  31st  of  July,  in  Philadelphia,  may  be  dated 
the  train  of  influences  and  events  which  culminated  four 
years  afterwards  in  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  to  the 
allied  forces  of  America  and  France.  Presented  to  our 
great  Virginian  commander-in-chief  a  few  days  only  after 
his  commission  was  vo-ted  by  Congress,  an  intimacy,  a 
friendship,  an  affection  grew  up  between  them  almost  at 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        245 

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sight.  Invited  to  become  a  member  of  his  military  family, 
and  treated  with  the  tenderness  of  a  son,  Lafayette  is 
henceforth  to  be  not  only  the  beloved  and  trusted  associate 
of  Washington,  but  a  living,  tie  between  his  native  and  his 
almost  adopted  country.  Eeturning  to  France  in  Janu- 
ary, 1779,  after  eighteen  months  of  brave  and  valuable 
service  here,  during  which  he  had  been  wounded  at  Brandy- 
wine,  had  exhibited  signal  gallantry  and  skill  at  Mon- 
mouth, and  had  received  the  thanks  of  Congress  for  im- 
portant services  in  Rhode  Island,  he  was  now  in  the  way 
of  appealing  personally  to  the  French  ministry  to  send  an. 
army  and  fleet  to  our  assistance.  He  did  appeal;  and  the 
zeal  and  force  of  his  arguments  at  length  prevailed.  The 
young  marquis,  to  whom  alone  the  decision  of  the  king  was 
revealed,  hastens  back  with  eager  joy  to  announce  the  glad 
tidings  to  Washington,  and  to  arrange  with  him  for  the 
reception  and  employment  of  the  auxiliary  forces. 

Accordingly,  on  the  10th  of  July,  1780,  a  squadron  of 
the  ships  of  war  brings  Rochambeau  with  six  thousand 
French  troops  into  the  harbor  of  Newport,  with  instruc- 
tions "to  act  under  Washington,  and  live  with  the  Ameri- 
can officers  as  their  brethren,"  and  the  American  officers 
are  forthwith  desired  by  Washington,  in  General  Orders, — 
"to  wear  white  and  black  cockades  as  a  symbol  of  affection 
for  their  allies." 

Nearly  a  full  year,  however,  was  to  elapse  before  the 
rich  fruits  of  that  alliance  were  to  be  developed, — a  year 
of  the  greatest  discouragement  and  gloom  for  the  American 
cause.  The  war  on  our  side  seemed  languishing.  As  late 
as  the  9th  of  April,  1781,  Washington  wrote  to  Colonel 
John  Laurens,  who  had  gone  on  a  special  mission  to  Paris, 


246  Builders  of  Democracy 

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"If  France  delays  a  timely  and  powerful  aid  in  the  critical 
juncture  of  our  affairs,  it  will  avail  us  nothing  should  she 
attempt  it  hereafter.  We  are  at  this  hour  suspended  in 
the  balance.  In  a  word,  we  are  at  the  end  of  our  tether,  and 
now  or  never  our  deliverance  must  come." 

God's  holy  name  be  praised,  deliverance  was  to  come, 
and  did  come,  now!  On  the  third  of  September,  1781,  the 
united  armies  reached  Philadelphia,  where.  Congress  being 
in  session,  the  French  army  "paid  it  the  honors  which  the 
king  had  ordered  us  to  pay,"  as  we  are  told  in  the  journal 
of  the  gallant  Count  William  de  Deux  Fonts.  ...  On 
the  19th  of  October  the  articles  were  signed  by  which  the 
garrisons  of  York  and  Gloucester,  together  with  all  the 
officers  and  seamen  of  the  British  ships  in  the  Chesapeake, 
"surrender  themselves  prisoners  of  war  to  the  combined 
forces  of  America  and  France." 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  These  paragraphs  are  from  an  address  delivered  in  October, 
1881,  on  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  surrender  of  Corn- 
wallis,  at  Yorktown.  They  are  interesting  because  they  tell  the 
circumstances  which  interested  the  young  Lafayette  in  the  cause 
of  liberty.  Lafayette's  motto  was  "Cur  non" — "Why  not?"  and 
it  is  a  good  motto  for  those  who  dedicate  themselves  to  a  great 
work.  Lafayette  did  what  he  could  to  make  a  safe  place  in  the 
world  for  democracy.  Democracy  now  repays  its  debt  to  France. 
General  Pershing's  words,  when  he  arrived  in  Paris — "We  are 
here,  Lafayette" — -express  the  love  for  France  that  dwells  in 
American  hearts,  and  America's  joy  that  the  service  rendered  by 
France  in  our  time  of  need  is  now  being  repaid. 

2.  The  "treaties  of  Franklin"  were  the  treaties  of  alliance 
between  the  United  States  and  France,  February,  1778. 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work        247 

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FROM  THE  FAREWELL  TO  THE  ARMY 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON 

It  is  not  the  meaning  nor  within  the  compass  of  this 
axidress  to  detail  the  hardships  peculiarly  incident  to  our 
service,  or  to  describe  the  distresses  which  in  several  in- 
stances have  resulted  from  the  extremes  of  hunger  and 
nakedness,  combined  with  the  rigors  of  an  inclement  sea- 
son; nor  is  it  necessary  to  dwell  on  the  dark  side  of  our 
past  affairs.  Every  American  officer  and  soldier  must  now 
console  himself  for  any  unpleasant  circumstances  which 
may  have  occurred,  by  a  recollection  of  the  uncommon 
scenes  of  which  he  has  been  called  to  act  no  inglorious 
part,  and  the  astonishing  events  of  which  he  has  been  a 
witness;  events  which  have  seldom,  if  ever  before,  taken 
place  on  the  stage  of  human  action,  nor  can  they  probably 
ever  happen  again.  For  who  has  before  seen  a  disciplined 
army  formed  at  once  from  such  raw  materials  ?  Who,  that 
was  not  a  witness,  could  imagine  that  the  most  violent  local 
prejudices  would  cease  so  soon;  and  that  men,  who  came 
from  the  different  parts  of  the  continent,  strongly  dis- 
posed by  the  habits  of  education  to  despise  and  quarrel  with 
each  other,  would  instantly  become  but  one  patriotic  band 
of  brothers  ?  Or  who,  that  was  not  on  the  spot,  can  trace 
the  steps  by  which  such  a  wonderful  revolution  has  been 
effected,  and  such  a  glofious  period  put  to  all  our  warlike 
toils? 

It  is  universally  acknowledged  that  the  enlarged  prospects 
of  happiness,  opened  by  the  confirmation  of  our  indepen- 
dence and  sovereignty,  almost  exceed  the  power  of  descrip- 
tion.   And  shall  not  the  brave  men,  who  have  contributed 


248  Builders  of  Democracy 

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SO  essentially  to  these  inestimable  acquisitions,  retiring 
victorious  from  the  field  of  war  to  the  field  of  agriculture, 
participate  in  all  the  blessings  which  have  been  obtained? 
In  such  a  republic,  who  will  exclude  them  from  the  rights 
of  citizens,  and  the  fruits  of  their  labor?  In  such  a  coun- 
try, so  happily  circumstanced,  the  pursuits  of  commerce 
and  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  will  unfold  to  industry  the 
certain  road  to  competence.  To  those  hardy  soldiers,  who 
are  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  adventure,  the  fisheries  will 
afford  ample  and  profitable  employment,  and  the  exten- 
sive and  fertile  regions  of  the  West  will  yield  a  most  happy 
asylum  to  those  who,  fond  of  domestic  enjoyment,  are 
seeking  for  personal  independence.   ... 

Every  one  may  rest  assured  that  much,  very  much  of  the 
future  happiness  of  the  officers  and  men  will  depend  upon 
the  wise  and  manly  conduct  which  shall  be  adopted  by  them 
when  they  are  mingled  with  the  great  body  of  the  com- 
munity. And  although  the  General  has  so  frequently  given 
it  as  his  opinion  in  the  most  public  and  explicit  manner 
that,  unless  the  principles  of  the  federal  government  were 
properly  supported,  and  the  powers  of  the  Union  increased, 
the  honor,  dignity,  and  justice  of  the  nation  would  be  lost 
forever;  yet  he  cannot  help  repeating  on  this  occasion  so 
interesting  a  sentiment,  and  leaving  it  as  his  last  injunc- 
tion to  every  ofiicer  and  every  soldier,  who  may  view  the 
subject  in  the  same  serious  point'  of  light,  to  add  his  best 
endeavors  to  those  of  his  worthy  fellow-citizens  toward 
effecting  these  great  and  valuable  purposes.   .    .    . 

To  the  various  branches  of  the  army  the  General  takes 
this  last  solemn  opportunity  of  professing  his  inviolable 
attachment  and  friendship.    He  wishes  more  than  bare  pro- 


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fessions  were  in  his  power;  that  he  were  really  able  to  be 
useful  to  them  all  in  future  life.  He  flatters  himself,  how- 
ever, they  will  do  him  the  justice  to  believe,  that  whatever 
could  with  propriety  be  attempted  by  him  has  been  done. 

And  being  now  to  conclude  these  his  last  public  orders, 
to  take  his  ultimate  leave  in  a  short  time  of  the  military 
character,  and  to  bid  a  final  adieu  to  the  armies  he  has  so 
long  had  the  honor  to  command,  he  can  only  again  offer 
in  their  behalf  his  recommendations  to  their  grateful  coun- 
try, and  his  prayers  to  the  God  of  armies.  May  ample 
justice  be  done  them  here,  and  may  the  choicest  of 
Heaven's  favors,  both  here  and  hereafter,  attend  those  who, 
under  the  Divine  auspices,  have  secured  innumerable 
blessings  for  others.  With  these  wishes  and  his  benedic- 
tion, the  commander-in-chief  is  about  to  retire  from  serv- 
ice. The  curtain  of  separation  will  soon  be  drawn,  and  the 
military  scene  to  him  will  be  closed  forever. 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  This  address  was  sent  out  to  the  army  from  Princeton,  New 
Jersey,  November  2,  1783. 

2.  Find,  from  your  history,  illustrations  of  what  General  Wash- 
ington means  by  "the  dark  side  of  our  past  affairs." 

3.  In  what  way  did  these  experiences  lead  General  Washington 
to  plead  for  the  increase  in  "the  powers  of  the  Union"? 

4.  Note  General  Washington's  anxiety  for  the  future  of  his 
Boldiers.  In  May,  1782,  a  movement  was  started  in  the  army  to 
establish  a  monarchy,  with  Washington  as  King.  One  reason  for 
the  proposal  was  the  fear  lest  the  soldiers  should  not  be  fairly 
treated  by  the  people  for  whose  freedom  they  had  fought.  Wash- 
ington indignantly  spurned  the  suggestion,  but  pledged  his  effort 
to  secure  the  welfare  of  the  men.  On  this  subject  look  up  the 
story  of  Washington  at  Valley  Forge,  in  your  history,  and  com- 
pare Lowell's  tribute,  p.  251. 


250  Builders  of  Democracy 

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THE  TWENTY-SECOND  OF  FEBRUARY 

WILLIAM  CTJLLEN  BBYANT 

Pale  is  the  February  sky 
And  brief  the  mid-day's  sunny  hours; 
The  wind-swept  forest  seems  to  sigh 
For  the  sweet  time  of  leaves  and  flowers. 


Yet  has  no  month  a  prouder  day, 
Not  even  when  the  summer  broods 
O'er  meadows  in  their  fresh  array, 
Or  autumn  tints  the  glowing  woods. 


For  this  chill  season  now  again 
Brings,  in  its  annual  round,  the  morn 
When,  greatest  of  the  sons  of  men, 
Our  glorious  Washington  was  born. 


Lo,  where,  beneath  an  icy  shield. 
Calmly  the  mighty  Hudson  flows !     ' 
By  snow-clad  fell  and  frozen  field. 
Broadening,  the  lordly  river  goes. 

The  wildest  storm  that  sweeps  through  space. 
And  rends  the  oak  with  sudden  force. 
Can  raise  no  ripple  on  his  face, 
Or  slacken  his  majestic  course. 

Thus,  'mid  the  wreck  of  thrones,  shall  live 
TJnmarred,  undimmed,  our  hero's  fame. 
And  years  succeeding  years  shall  give 
Increase  of  honors  to  his  name. 


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WASHINGTON 

JAMES   BUSSELL   LOWELL 

Soldier-  and  statesman,  rarest  unison ; 

High-poised  example  of  great  duties  done 

Simply  as  breathing,  a  world's  honors  worn 

As  life's  indifferent  gifts  to  all  men  born ; 

Dumb  for  himself,  unless  it  were  to  God, 

But  for  his  barefoot  soldiers  eloquent. 

Tramping  the  snow  to  coral  where  they  trod. 

Held  by  his  awe  in  hollow-eyed  content; 

Modest,  yet  firm  as  Nature's  self;  unblamed 

Save  by  the  men  his  nobler  temper  shamed; 

Never  seduced  through  show  of  present  good 

By  other  than  unsetting  lights  to  steer     • 

New-trimmed  in  Heaven,  nor  than  his  steadfast  mood 

More  steadfast,  far  from  rashness  as  from  fear; 

Rigid,  but  with  him?elf  first,  grasping  still 

In  swerveless  poise  the  wave-beat  helm  of  will ; 

Not  honored  then  or  now  because  he  wooed 

The  popular  voice,  but  that  he  still  withstood; 

Broad-minded,  higher-soul ed,  there  is  but  one. 

Who  was  all  this  and  ours,  and  all  men's — Washington. 

THE  AMERICAN  EXPERIMENT 

DANIEL  WEBSTER 

Washington  had  attained  his  manhood  when  that  spark 
of  liberty  was  struck  out  in  his  own  country  which  has 
since  kindled  into  a  flame  and  shot  its  beams  over  the  earth. 
In  the  flow  of  a  century  from  his  birth,  the  world  has 
changed  in  science,  in  arts,  in  the  extent  of  commerce,  in 
the  improvement  of  navigation,  and  in  all  that  relates  to 
the  civilization  of  man.  But  it  is  the  spirit  of  human  free- 
dom, the  new  elevation  of  individual  ilian,  in  his  moral. 


252  Builders  of  Democracy 

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social,  and  political  character,  leading  the  whole  long  train 
of  other  improvements,  which  has  most  remarkably  dis- 
tinguished the  era.  Society,  in  this  century,  has  not  made 
its  progress,  like  Chinese  skill,  by  a  greater  acuteness  of 
ingenuity  in  trifles ;  it  has  not  merely  lashed  itself  to  an 
increased  speed  round  the  old  circles  of  thought  and 
action;  but  it  has  assumed  a  new  character;  it  has  raised 
itself  from  beneath  governments  to  a  participation  in  gov- 
ernments; it  has  mixed  moral  and  political  objects  with 
the  daily  pursuits  of  individual  men;  and,  with  a  freedom 
and  strength  before  altogether  unknown,  it  has  applied  to 
these  objects  the  whole  power  of  the  human  understand- 
ing. It  has  been  the  era,  in  short,  when  the  social  prin- 
ciple has  triumphed  over  the  feudal  principle ;  when  society 
has  maintained  its  rights  against  military  power,  and  es- 
tablished, on  foundations  never  hereafter  to  be  shaken,  its 
competency  to  govern  itself. 

It  was  the  extraordinary  fortune  of  Washington,  that, 
having  been  intrusted,  in  revolutionary  times,  with  the 
supreme  military  command,  and  having  fulfilled  that  trust 
with  equal  renown  for  wisdom  and  for  valor,  he  should  be 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  first  government  in  which  an 
attempt  was  to  be  made  on  a  large  scale  to  rear  the  fabric 
of  social  order  on  the  basis  of  a  written  constitution  and 
of  a  pure  representative  principle.  A  government  was  to  be 
established,  without  a  throne,  without  an  aristocracy,  with- 
out castes,  orders,  or  privileges;  and  this  government,  in- 
stead of  being  a  democracy  existing  and  acting  within  the 
walls  of  a  single  city,  was  to  be  extended  over  a  vast  coun- 
try of  different  climates,  interests,  and  habits,  and  of  vari- 
ous  communions   of   our   common   Christian   faith.     The 


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experiment  certainly  was  entirely  new.  A  popular  govern- 
ment of  this  extent,  it  was  evident,  could  be  framed  only 
by  carr3^ing  into  full  effect  the  principle  of  representation 
or  of  delegated  power;  and  the  world  was  to  see  whether 
society  could,  by  the  strength  of  this  principle,  maintain 
its  own  peace  and  good  government,  carry  forward  its 
own  great  interests,  and  conduct  itself  to  political  renown 
and  glory.  By  the  benignity  of  Providence,  this  experi- 
ment, so  full  of  interest  to  us  and  to  our  posterity  forever, 
so  full  of  interest,  indeed,  to  the  world  in  its  present  gen- 
eration and  in  all  its  generations  to  come,  was  suffered  to 
anmence  under  the  guidance  of  Washington.  Destined 
ior  this  high  career,  he  was  fitted  for  it  by  wisdom,  by  vir- 
tue, by  patriotism,  by  discretion,  by  whatever  can  inspire 
confidence  in  man  toward  man.  In  entering  on  the  un- 
tried scenes  early  disappointment  and  the  premature  ex- 
tinction of  all  hope  of  success  would  have  been  certain,  had 
it  not  been  that  there  did  exist  throughout  the  country,  in 
a  most  extraordinary  degree,  an  unwavering  trust  in.  him 
who  stood  at  the  helm. 

I  remarked.  Gentlemen,  that  the  whole  world  was  and 
is  interested  in  the  result  of  this  experiment.  And  is  it 
not  so?  Do  we  deceive  ourselves,  or  is  it  true  that  at 
this  moment  the  career  which  this  government  is  running  is 
among  the  most  attractive  objects  to  the  civilized  world? 
Do  we  deceive  ourselves,  or  is  it  true  that  at  this  moment 
that  love  of  liberty  and  that  understanding  of  its  true  prin- 
ciples which  are  flying  over  the  whole  earth,  as  on  the  -^^ings 
of  all  the  winds,  are  really  and  truly  of  American  origin? 

At  the  period  of  the  birth  of  Washington  there  existed 
in  Europe  no  political  liberty  in  large  communities,  except 


254  Builders  of  Democracy 

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in  the  provinces  of  Holland,  and  except  that  England  her- 
self had  set  a  great  example,  so  far  as  it  went,  by  her 
glorious  Revolution  of  1688.  Everywhere  else,  despotic 
power  was  predominant,  and  the  feudal  or  military  prin- 
ciple held  the  mass  of  mankind  in  hopeless  bondage.  One- 
half  of  Europe  was  crushed  beneath  the  Bourbon  scepter, 
and  no  conception  of  political  liberty,  no  hope  even  of  re- 
ligious toleration,  existed  among  that  nation  which  was 
Americans  first  ally.  The  king  was  the  state,  the  king  was 
the  country,  the  king  was  all.  There  was  one  king,  with 
power  not  derived  from  his  people,  and  too  high  to  be 
questioned,  and  the  rest  were  all  subjects,  with  no  political 
right  but  obedience.  All  above  was  intangible  power,  all 
below  was  quiet  subjection.  A  recent  occurrence  in  the 
French  chamber  shows  us  how  public  opinion  on  these 
subjects  is  changed.  A  minister  had  spoken  of  the  "king's 
subjects."  "There  are  no  subjects,"  exclaimed  hundreds 
of  voices  at  once,  "in  a  country  where  the  people  make  the 
king!" 

Gentlemen,  the  spirit  of  human  liberty  and  of  free  gov- 
ernment, nurtured  and  grown  into  strength  and  beauty  in 
America,  has  stretched  its  course  into  the  midst  of  the 
nations.  Like  an  emanation  from  Heaven,  it  has  gone 
forth,  and  it  will  not  return  void.  It  must  change,  it  is  fast 
changing,  the  face  of  the  earth.  Our  great,  our  high  duty 
is  to  show,  in  our  own  example,  that  this  spirit  is  a  spirit 
of  health  as  well  as  a  spirit  of  power ;  that  its  benignity  is 
as  great  as  its  strength;  that  its  efficiency  to  secure  indi- 
vidual rights,  social  relations,  and  moral  order,  is  equal  to 
the  irresistible  force  with  which  it  prostrates  principalities 
and  powers.     The  world,  at  this  moment,  is  regarding  us 


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with  a  willing,  but  something  of  a  fearful  admiration.  Its 
deep  and  awful  anxiety  is  to  learn  whether  free  States  may 
be  stable,  as  well  as  free;  whether  popular  power  may  be 
trusted  as  well  as  feared;  in  short,  whether  wise,  regu- 
lar, and  virtuous  self-government  is  a  vision  for  the  ^con- 
templation of  theorists,  or  a  truth  established,  illustrated, 
and  brought  into  practice  in  the  country  of  Washington. 

Gentlemen,  for  the  earth  which  we  inhabit,  and  the 
whole  circle  of  the  sun,  for  all  the  unborn  races  of  man- 
kind, we  seem  to  hold  in  our  hands,  for  their  weal  or  woe, 
the  fate  of  this  experiment.  If  we  fail,  who  shall  venture 
the  repetition?  If  our  example  shall  prove  to  be  one  not 
of  encouragement,  but  of  terror,  not  fit  to  be  imitated,  but 
fit  only  to  be  shunned,  where  else  shall  the  world  look  for 
free  models?  If  this  great  Western  Sun  be  struck  out  of 
the  firmament,  at  what  other  fountain  shall  the  lamp  of 
liberty  hereafter  be  lighted?  What  other  orb  shall  emit  a 
ray  to  glimmer,  even,  on  the  darkness  of  the  world? 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  The  selection  is  from  an  address  delivered  in  Washington 
on  February  22,  1832,  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  Washington's 
birth. 

2.  In  the  first  paragraph  notice  what  is  said  about  "the  new 
elevation  of  individual  man."  Connect  this  in  your  thought  with 
Burns's  "A  Man's  a  Man"  and  with  President  Wilson's  state- 
ment about  the  "new  plane  of  privilege."  Notice  also  the  sen- 
tence "Society  .  .  .  has  raised  itself  from  beneath  governments 
to  a  participation  in  governments.'*  What  does  this  mean  ?  What 
governments  did  Webster  have  in  mind? 

3.  The  English  Reform  Bill  was  passed  June  4,  1832.  By  this 
law  the  so-called  "rotten  boroughs,"  that  is,  districts  which  still 


256  Builders  of  Democracy 

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sent  representatives  to  Parliament  though  nearly  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  districts  had  moved  away,  were  abolished.  Cities 
and  villages  that  had  not  been  represented  were  now  allowed  to 
send  members  to  Parliament.  Thus  the  farmers  and  sliopkeepers 
— ^the  middle  class — secured  a  representation  for;iierly  denied 
them.  Even  with  this  advance,  however,  England  was  not  wholly 
free,  since  the  right  to  vote  was  still  limited  to  certain  classes. 
"The  American  Experiment"  trusted  all  the  people,  freely. 

4.  The  nature  of  the  "American  Experiment"  is  explained  in. 
the  second  paragraph.  Make  this  clear  by  contrasting  England 
and  America  in  1832  on  the  basis  of  the  items  set  down  by  Mr. 
Webster:  constitution;  pure  representative  principle;  throne; 
castes,  orders,  and  privileges.    What  i ;  "delegated  power"  ? 

5.  In  the  first  sentence  of  the  fourth  paragraph  what  is  meant 
by  "so  far  as  it  went"? 

6.  To  understand  this  fourth  paragraph  fully,  you  should  find 
out  something  about  the  French  Pevolution.  After  you  have  done 
this,  be  prepared  to. discuss  the  following  topics  in  class: 

(a)  What  caused  the  French  Revolution. 

(b)  How  it  differed  from  our  Revolution. 

(c)  What  Mr.  Webster  meant  by  saying  that  in  France  "the 
king  was  the  state." 

(d)  "There  are  no  subjects  in  a  country  where  the  people  make 
the  king."     What  event  made  this  statement  true  of  England? 

(e)  The  responsibility  that  rests  upon  America  (fifth  para- 
graph). 

SACRED  OBLIGATIONS 

DANIEL    WEBSTEE 

We  are  not  propagandists.  Wherever  other  systems  are 
preferred,  either  as  being  thought  better  in  themselves,  or 
as  better, suited  to  existing  conditions,  we  leave  the  prefer- 
ence to  be  enjoyed.  Our  history  hitherto  proves,  however, 
that  the  popular  form  is  practicable,  and  that  with  wisdom 
and  knowledge  men  may  govern  themselves ;  and  the  duty 


I 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  257 

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incumbent  on  us  is  to  preserve  the  consistency  of  this  cheer- 
ing example,  and  take  care  that  nothing  weaken  its 
authority  with  the  world.  If,  in  our  case,  the  representa- 
tive system  ultimately  fail,  popular  governments  must  be 
pronounced  impossible.  No  combination  of  circumstances 
more  favorable  to  the  experiment  can  ever  be  expected  to 
occur.  The  last  hopes  of  mankind,  therefore,  rest  with  us ; 
and  if  it  should  be  proclaimed  that  our  example  had  become 
an  argument  against  the  experiment,  the  knell  of  popular 
liberty  would  be  sounded  throughout  the  earth. 

These  are  excitements  to  duty;  but  they  are  not  sugges- 
tions of  doubt.  Our  history  and  our  condition,  all  that  is 
gone  before  us,  and  all  that  surrounds  us,  authorize  the 
belief  that  popular  governments,  though  subject  to  occa- 
sional variations,  in  form  perhaps  not  always  for  the  bet- 
ter, may  yet,  in  their  general  character,  be  as  durable  and 
permanent  as  other  systems.  We  know,  indeed,  that  in 
our  country  any  other  is  impossible.  The  principle  of 
free  government  adheres  to  the  American  soil.  It  is  im- 
bedded in  it,  immovable  as  its  mountains. 

And  let  the  sacred  obligations  which  have  devolved  on 
this  generation,  and  on  us,  sink  deep  into  our  hearts. 
Those  who  established  ouj*  liberty  and  our  government  are 
daily  dropping  from  among  us.  The  great  trust  now  de- 
scends to  new  hands.  Let  us  apply  ourselves  to  that  which 
is  presented  to  us,  as  our  appropriate  object.  We  can  win 
no  laurels  in  a  war  for  independence.  Earlier  and  worthier 
hands  have  gathered  them  all.  Nor  are  there  places  for 
us  by  the  side  of  Solon,  and  Alfred,  and  other  founders  of 
states.  Our  fathers  have  filled  them.  But  there  remains 
to  us  a  great  duty  of  defense  and  preservation  and  there 


258  Builders  of  Democracy 

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is  open  to  us  also,  a  noble  pursuit,  to  which,  the  spirit  of  the 
times  strongly  invites  us.  Our  proper  business  is  improve- 
ment. Let  our  age  be  the  age  of  improvement.  In  a  day 
of  peace,  let  us  advance  the  arts  of  peace  and  the  works  of 
peace.  Let  us  develop  the  resources  of  our  land,  call  forth 
its  powers,  build  up  its  institutions,  promote  all  its  great 
interests,  and  see  whether  we  also,  in  our  day  and  genera- 
tion, may  not  perform  something  worthy  to  be  remembered. 
Let  us  cultivate  a  true  spirit  of  union  and  harmony.  In 
pursuing  the  great  objects  which  our  condition  points  out 
to  us,  let  us  act  under  a  settled  conviction,  and  an  habitual 
feeling,  that  these  twenty-four  States  are  one  country.  Let 
our  conceptions  be  enlarged  to  the  circle  of  our  duties.  I^t 
us  extend  our  ideas  over  the  whole  of  the  vast  field  in 
which  we  are  called  to  act.  Let  our  object  be,  our  coun- 
try, OUR  V7H0LE  COUNTRY,  AND  NOTHING  BUT  OUR  COUN- 
TRY. And,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  may  that  country  itself 
become  a  vast  and  splendid  monument,  not  of  oppression 
and  terror,  but  of  Wisdom,  of  Peace,  and  of  Liberty,  upon 
which  the  world  may  gaze  with  admiration  forever ! 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  These  paragraphs  are  taken  from  Mr.  Webster's  famous 
speech  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment, June  17,  1825.  At  this  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  battle 
many  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  were  present,  but  the  most  dis- 
tinguished guest  was  Lafayette. 

2.  In  the  first  paragraph,  notice  once  more  Mr.  Webster's  sense 
of  the  responsibility  resting  upon  America  to  prove  that  popular 
government  may  be  trusted.  Two  great  charges  have  been  brought 
against  such  a  form  of  government:  (a)  .That  it  is  not  stable, 
being  at  the  mercy  of  mobs  which  may  commit  violent  acts  and 
even  overthrow  the  government.    On  this  recall  what  you  learned 


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about  the  French  Revolution.  Would  the  Russian  Revolution 
serve  as  a  further  example?  (b)  That  it  cannot  be  organized, 
made  one.  Wliat  this  means  may  be  seen  in  the  idea,  held  bj 
some  people  before  the  entry  of  America  into  the  war,  that  we 
could  not  raise  a  great  army,  equip  it,  and  train  it  as  efficiently 
as  Germany  had  done.  How  would  you  answer  this  question  as 
to  the  efficiency  of  a  democracy  now? 

3.  Webster,  like  Washington,  felt  that  the  great  idea  for  us  to 
get  is  that  "these  States  are  one  country."  How  is  the  present 
war  driving  this  conception  home  to  us?  The  administration  of 
our  railroads?  the  food  administration?  the  selective  draft?  the 
co-operation  of  all  citizens? 

4.  Why  would  Mr.  Webster  be  glad  to  see  all  these  things  as 
answers  to  his  hope  that  the  American  Experiment  would  not  fail? 

5.  Commit  to  memory  the  last  five  sentences,  changing  "twenty- 
four  states"  to  the  proper  number.  What  do  the  words  "oppres- 
sion and  terror"  suggest  about  governments  today?  Why  do  you 
think  America  stands  for  "Wisdom,  Peace,  and  Liberty"  today? 


ODE 

Sung  in  the  Town  Hall,  Concord,  July  4,  1857 

ralph  waldo  emerson 

0  tenderly  the  haughty  day 
Fills  his  blue  urn  with  fire ; 

One  mom  is  in  the  mighty  heaven, 
And  one  in  our  desire. 

The  cannon  booms  from  tawn  to  town. 

Our  pulses  beat  not  less, 
The  joy-bells  chime  their  tidings  down. 

Which  children's  voices  bless. 

For  He  that  flung  the  broad  blue  fold 
O'er  mantling  land  and  sea, 

One  third  part  of  the  sky  unrolled 
For  the  banner  of  the  free. 


260  Builders  of  Democracy 

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The  men  are  ripe  of  Saxon  kind 
To  build  an  equal  state, —  • 

To  take  the  statute  from  the  mind 
And  make  of  duty  fate. 

And  henceforth  there  shall  be  no  chain. 

Save  underneath  the  sea, 
The  wires  shall  murmur  through  the  main 

Sweet  songs  of  liberty. 

The  conscious  stars  accord  above. 

The  waters  wild  below, 
And  under,  through  the  cable  wove. 

Her  fiery  errands  go. 

For  He  that  worketh  high  and  wise. 

Nor  pauses  in  his  plan, 
Will  take  the  sun  out  of  the  skies 

Ere  freedom  out  of  man. 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  This  poem  is  inserted  because  it  is  closely  connected  with 
what  we  have  been  thinking  of.  John  Adams,  you  remember, 
thought  that  July  Fourth  would  become  a  day  of  rejoicing  for 
all  Americans.     Find  the  passage, 

2.  Why  is  the  day  called  "haughty"? 

3.  Explain 

"One  third  part  of  the  sky  unrolled 
For  the  banner  of  the  free." 
You  might  compare  a  part  of  a  poem  by  Joseph  Rodman  Drake, 
written  in  1819: 

When  Freedom  from  her  mountain  height 

Unfurled  her  standard  to  the  air. 
She  tore  the  azure  robe  of  night, 

And  set  the  stars  of  glory  there; 
She  mingled  with  its  gorgeous  dyes 


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The  milky  baldric  of  the  skies, 
And  striped  its  pure,  celestial  white 
With  streakings  of  the  morning  light; 
Then  from  his  mansion  in  the  sun 
She  called  her  eagle  bearer  down, 
And  gave  into  his  mighty  hand 
The  symbol  of  her  chosen  land. 

4.  Explain,  in  the  fourth  stanza,  "Saxon  kind",  "equal  state", 
"statute  from  the  mind."  To  make  duty  your  fate,  ^he  ruler  of 
your  life,  is  better  than  to  live  in  a  country  where  you  think  and 
act  as  some  one  else  tells  you  to  think  and  act.  But  the  stanza 
also  shows  that  besides  freedom  we  must  have  government — that 
is,  liberty  is  subject  to  restraint.  The  result  is  free  government. 
Now  explain  some  ways  in  which  in  America  today  freedom  and 
government  are  combined. 

5.  In  the  fifth  stanza  what  invention  is  referred  to?  In  what 
other  way  may  the  messages  of  liberty  flash  across  the  Atlantic 
today? 

6.  Memorize  the  last  stanza,  and  find  in  one  of  the  selections 
from  Webster  the  expression  of  a  similar  idea. 


THE  POOR  VOTER  ON  ELECTION  DAY 

JOHN  GBEENLEAF  WHITTIEB     . 

The  proudest  now  is  but  my  peer, 

The  highest  not  more  high ; 
Today,  of  all  the  weary  year, 

A  king  of  men  am  I. 
Today,  alike  are  great  and  small. 

The  nameless  and  the  known ; 
My  palace  is  the  people's  hall. 

The  ballot-box  my  throne ! 

Who  serves  today  upon  the  list 
Beside  the  served  shall  stand; 


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Alike  the  brown  and  wrinkled  fist. 
The  gloved  and  dainty  hand ! 

The  rich  is  level  with  the  poor. 
The  weak  is  strong  today; 

And  sleekest  broadcloth  counts  no  more 
Than  homespun  frock  of  gray. 


Today  let  pomp  and  vain  pretense 

My  stubborn  right  abide ; 
I  set  a  plain  man's  common  sense 

Against  the  pedant's  pride. 
Today  shall  simple  manhood  try 

The  strength  of  gold  and  land; 
The  wide  world  has  not  wealth  to  buy 

The  power  in  ray  right  hand ! 


While  there's  a  grief  to  seek  redress. 

Or  balance  to  adjust. 
Where  weighs  our  living  manhood  less 

Than  Mammon's  vilest  dust, — 
While  there's  a  right  to  need  my  vote, 

A  wrong  to  sweep  away. 
Up!  clouted  knee  and  ragged  coat! 

A  man's  a  man  today! 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

■    1.    To  what  poem  previously  read  does  this  poem  refer?    Com- 
pare the  two  poems  in  as  many  ways  as  you  can. 

2.  What  else,  besides  the  right  to  vote,  has  the  poor  man  gained 
in  this  country? 

3.  How  does  this  poem  help  make  clear  the  first  paragraph  im 
the  Declaration  of  Independence? 

4.  Has  the  citizen  performed  his  whole  duty  when  he  has  voted? 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work         263 


THE  GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS 

ABBAHAM    LINCOLN 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  Liberty, 
and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal. 

Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war ;  testing  whether 
that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated, 
can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battlefield  of 
that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that 
field,  as  a  final  resting  place  for  those  who  here  gave  their 
lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting 
and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  can  not  dedicate — we  can  not 
consecrate — we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave 
men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here  have  conse- 
crated it  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract.  The 
world  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is 
for  us  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  un- 
finished work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far 
so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated 
to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us — that  from  these 
honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause 
for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion — that 
we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died 
in  vain — that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new 
birth  of  freedom — and  that  government  of  the  people,  by 
the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  th« 
earth. 


264  Builders  of  Democracy 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  This  address  was  given  at  the  dedication  of  the  national 
cemetery  at  Gettysburg,  November  11,  1863.  Like  all  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  writings  it  is  an  illustration  of  intense  thought  and 
feeling  compressed  into  a  few  simple  words. 

2.  In  the  first  paragraph,  notice  the  reference  to  political 
equality  as  the  basis  of  the  American  plan  of  government.  What 
sentence  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  Mr.  Lincoln  think- 
ing of?  In  a  speech  delivered  in  Independence  Hall  in  1861,  just 
before  he  became  president,  Mr.  Lincoln  used  these  words:  "All 
the  political  sentiments  I  entertain  have  been  drawn,  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments  which  origi- 
nated in  and  were  given  to  the  world  from  this  hall.  I  have  never 
had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not  spring  from  the  sentiments 
embodied  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  ...  It  was  not 
the  mere  matter  of  the  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the  mother- 
land, but  that  sentiment  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  which 
gave  liberty,  not  alone  to  the  people  of  this  country,  but,  I  hope, 
to  the  world,  for  all  future  time.  It  was  that  which  gave  promise 
that  in  due  time  the  weight  would  be  lifted  from  the  shoulders  of 
all  men."    Ta  what  sentiment  does  he  refer? 

3.  Do  you  find  anything  in  this  address  that  makes  you  think 
of  what  Mr.  Lane  said  about  the  Makers  of  the  Flag? 

4.  Do  you  find  anything  in  the  address  which  you  can  apply  to 
the  part  of  America  in  the  present  war? 


TO  MRS.  BIXBY 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

Dear  Madam:  I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the 
War  Department  a  statement  of  the  Adjutant- General  of 
Massachusetts  that  you  are  the  mother  of  five  sons  who 
have  died  gloriously  on  the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how 
weak  and  fruitless  must  be  any  words  of  mine  which 
should  attempt  to  beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so 


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overwhelming.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from  tendering  to 
you  the  consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks  of 
the  Republic  they  died  to  save.  I  pray  that  our  Heavenly 
Father  may  assuage  the  anguish  of  your  bereavement,  and 
leave  you  only  the  cherished  memory  of  the  loved  and  lost, 
and  the  solemn  pride  that  must  be  yours  to  have  laid  so 
costly  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 


FROM  THE  SECOND  ll^AUGURAL  ADDRESS 

ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

With  malice  toward  none;  with  charity  for  all;  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let 
us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the 
nation's  wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne 
the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphan — to  do  all 
which  may  achieve  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  our- 
selves, and  with  all  nations. 


O  CAPTAIN!  IVIY  CAPTAIN! 

WALT  WHITMAN 

0  Captain !  my  Captain !  our  fearful  trip  is  done. 

The  ship  has  weathered  every  rack,  the  prize  we  sought  is 

won, 
The  port  is  near,  the  bells  I  hear,  the  people  all  exulting, 
While  follow  eyes  the  steady  keel,  the  vessel  grim  and 
daring ; 
But  0  heart !  heart !  heart ! 
0  the  bleeding  drops  of  red, 

Where  on  the  deck  my  Captain  lies. 
Fallen  cold  and  dead. 


266  Builders  of  Democracy 

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0  Captain !  my  Captain !  rise  up  and  hear  the  bells ; 

Eise  up — for  you  the  flag  is  flung — for  you  the  bugle  trills, 

For  you  bouquets  and  ribboned  wreaths — for  you  the  shores 

a-crowding. 
For  you  they  call,  the  swaying  mass,  their  eager  faces 
turning; 
Here  Captain !  dear  father ! 
This  arm  beneath  your  head! 

It  is  some  dream  that  on  the  deck. 
You've  fallen  cold  and  dead. 

My  Captain  does  not  answer,  his  lips  are  pale  and  still. 
My  father  does  not  feel  my  arm,  he  has  no  pulse  nor  will. 
The  ship  is  anchored  safe  and  sound,  its  voyage  closed  and 

done. 
From  fearful  trip  the  victor  ship  comes  in  with  object  won; 
Exult  0  shores,  and  ring  0  bells ! 
But  I  with  mournful  tread. 

Walk  the  deck  my  Captain  lies. 
Fallen  cold  and  dead. 

STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Walt  Whitman  wrote  several  poems  about  the  death  of  Lin- 
coln, whom  he  deeply  loved.  This  is  the  most  famous  of  the 
poems,  but  perhaps  you  will  wish  to  look  up  "When  Lilacs  Last 
in  the  Dooryard  Bloomed,"  which  describes  the  journey  of  the 
train  bearing  the  body  of  the  martyred  President  from  Washing- 
ton to  Springfield,  Illinois. 

2.  What  does  the  poet  mean  by  the  ship?  What  port  has  been 
reached  ? 

OUR  MARTYR-CHIEF 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL 

Such  was  he,  our  Martyr-Chief, 
Whom  late  the  Nation  he  had  led. 
With  ashes  on  her  head. 


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Wept  with  the  passion  of  an  angry  grief : 
Forgive  me,  if  from  present  things  I  turn 
To  speak  what  in  my  heart  will  beat  and  bum. 
And  hang  my  wreath  on  his  world-honored  urn 
Nature,  they  say,  doth  dote, 
And  cannot  make  a  man 
Save  on  some  worn-out  plan, 
Repeating  us  by  rote : 
For  him  her  Old- World  mold  aside  she  threw. 
And,  choosing  sweet  clay  from  the  breast 
Of  the  unexhausted  West, 
With  stuff  untainted  shaped  a  hero  new. 
Wise,  steadfast  in  the  strength  of  God,  and  true. 

How  beautiful  to  see 
Once  more  a  shepherd  of  mankind  indeed, 
Who  loved  his  charge  but  never  loved  to  lead ; 
One  whose  meek  flock  the  people  joyed  to  be. 
Not  lured  by  any  cheat  of  birth, 
But  by  his  clear-grained  human  worth. 
And  brave  old  wisdom  of  sincerity ! 

They  knew  that  outward  grace  is  dust ; 
They  could  not  choose  but  trust 
In  that  sure-footed  mind's  unfaltering  skill. 

And  supple-tempered  will 
That  bent  like  perfect  steel  to  spring  again  and  thrust. 

Nothing  of  Europe  here — 
Or,  then,  of  Europe  fronting  mornward  still. 
Ere  any  names  of  Serf  and  Peer 
Could  Nature's  equal  scheme  deface : 
Here  was  a  t3rpe  of  the  true  elder  race. 
And  one  of  Plutarch's  men  talked  with  us  face  to  face. 

I  praise  him  not :  it  were  too  late ; 
And  some  innative  weakness  there  must  be 
In  him  who  condescends  to  victory 
Such  as  the  Present  gives,  and  cannot  wait. 
Safe  in  himself  as  in  a  fate. 


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So  always  firmly  he : 
He  knew  to  bide  his  time, 
And  can  his  fame  abide, 
Still  patient  in  his  simple  faith  sublime, 
Till  the  wise  years  decide. 
Great  captains,  with  their  guns  and  drums, 
Disturb  our  judgment  for  the  hour, 

But  at  last  silence  comes : 
These  all  are  gone,  and,  standing  like  a  tower. 
Our  children  shall  behold  his  fame. 

The  kindly-earnest,  brave,  foreseeing  man. 
Sagacious,  patient,  dreading  praise,  not  blame, 
New  birth  of  our  new  soil,  the  first  American. 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  These  lines  are  taken  from  a  poem  written  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  Harvard  men  who  fell  in  the  war.  Notice  that  Mr. 
Lowell  calls  Lincoln  "the  first  American."  For  what  reason? 
Could  not  Washington  be  given  such  a  title?  Be  ready  to  give 
your  reasons  for  or  against  applying  the  name  to  Washington. 

2.  Explain  "Old- World  mold,"  "shepherd  of  mankind,"  "noth- 
ing of  Europe  here."  Plutarch  wsls  a  historian  of  the  first  century 
who  wrote  biographies  of  a  large  number  of  famous  Greeks  and 
Romans. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 
WooDRow  Wilson 

No  more  significant  memorial  could,  have  been  pre- 
sented to  the  nation  than  this.  It  expresses  so  much  of 
what  is  singular  and  noteworthy  in  the  history  of  the 
country;  it  suggests  so  many  of  the  things  that  we  prize 
most  highly  in  our  life  and  in  our  system  of  government. 
How  eloquent  this  little  house  within  this  shrine  is  of  the 
vigor  of  democracy!    There  is  nowhere  in  the  land  any 


The  Builders  and  Their  Work  269 

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home  so  remote,  so  humble,  that  it  may  not  contain  the 
power  of  mind  and  heart  and  conscience  to  which  nations 
yield  and  history  submits  its  processes.  Nature  pays  no 
tribute  to  aristocracy,  subscribes  to  no  creed  of  caste,  ren- 
ders fealty  to  no  monarch  or  master  of  any  name  or  kind. 
Genius  is  no  snob.  It  does  not  run  after  titles  or  seek  by 
preference  the  high  circles  of  society.  It  affects  humble 
company  as  well  as  great.  It  pays  no  special  tribute  to 
universities  or  learned  societies  or  conventional  standards 
of  greatness,  but  serenely  chooses  its  own  comrades,  its 
own  haunts,  its  own  cradle  even,  and  its  own  life  of  adven- 
ture and  of  training.  Here  is  proof  of  it.  This  little  hut 
was  the  cradle  of  one  of  the  great  sons  of  men,  a  man  of 
singular,  delightful,  vital  genius  who  presently  emerged 
upon  the  great  stage  of  the  nation's  history,  gaunt,  shy, 
ungainly,  but  dominant  and  majestic,  a  natural  ruler  of 
men,  himself  inevitably  the  central  figure  of  the  great 
plot.  No  man  can  explain  this,  but  every  man  can  see 
how  it  demonstrates  the  vigor  of  democracy,  where  every 
door  is  open,  in  every  hamlet  and  countryside,  in  city  and 
wilderness  alike,  for  the  ruler  to  emerge  when  he  will  and 
claim  his  leadership  in  the  free  life.  Such  are  the  authen- 
tic proofs  of  the  validity  and  vitality  of  democracy. 

Here,  no  less,  hides  the  mystery  of  democracy.  Who 
shall  guess  this  secret  of  nature  and  providence  and  a  free 
polity?  AVhatever  the  vigor  and  vitality  of  the  stock  from 
which  he  sprang,  its  mere  vigor  and  soundness  do  not 
explain  "where  this  man  got  his  great  heart  that  seemed 
to  comprehend  all  mankind  in  its  catholic  and  benignant 
sympathy,  the  mind  that  sat  enthroned  behind  those 
brooding,  melancholy  eyes,  whose  vision  swept  many  an 


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horizon  which  those  about  him  dreamed  not  of, — that  mind 
that  comprehended  what  it  had  never  seen,  and  understood 
the  language  of  aifairs  with  the  ready  ease  of  one  to  the 
manner  born, — or  that  nature  which  seemed  in  its  varied 
richness  to  be  the  familiar  of  men  of  every  way  of  life. 
This  is  the  sacred  mystery  of  democracy;  that  its  richest 
fruits  spring  up  out  of  soils  which  no  man  has  prepared 
and  in  circumstances  amidst  which  they  are  the  least 
expected.  This  is  a  place  alike  of  mystery  and  of  reassur- 
ance. 

It  is  likely  that  in  a  society  ordered  otherwise  than  our 
own  Lincoln  could  not  have  found  himself  or  the  path  of 
fame  and  power  upon  which  he  walked  serenely  to  his 
death.  In  this  place  it  is  right  that  we  should  remind 
ourselves  of  the  solid  and  striking  facts  upon  which  our 
faith  in  democracy  is  founded.  Many  another  man  besides 
Lincoln  has  served  the  nation  in  its  highest  places  of  coun- 
sel and  of  action  whose  origins  were  as  humble  as  his. 
Though  the  greatest  example  of  the  universal  energy,  rich- 
ness, stimulation,  and  force  of  democracy,  he  is  only  one 
example  among  many.  The  permeating  and  all-pervasive 
virtue  of  the  freedom  which  challenges  us  in  America  to 
make  the  most  of  every  gift  and  power  we  possess  every 
page  of  our  history  serves  to  emphasize  and  illustrate. 
Standing  here  in  this  place,  it  seems  almost  the  whole  of 
the  stirring  story. 

Here  Lincoln  had  his  beginnings.  Here  the  end  and 
consummation  of  that  great  life  seem  remote  and  a  bit 
incredible.  And  yet  there  was  no  break  anywhere  between 
beginning  and  end,  no  lack  of  natural  sequence  an3rwhere. 
Nothing  really  incredible  happened.     Lincoln  was  unaf- 


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fectedly  as  much  at  home  in  the  White  House  as  he  was 
here.  Do  you  share  with  me  the  feeling,  I  wonder,  that 
he  was  permanently  at  home  nowhere?  It  seems  to  me 
that  in  the  ease  of  a  man, — I  would  rather  say  of  a  spirit, — 
like  Lincoln  the  question  where  he  was  is  of  little  signifi- 
cance,  that  it  is  always  what  he  was  that  really  arrests 
our  thought  and  takes  hold  of  our  imagination.  It  is  the 
spirit  always  that  is  sovereign.  Lincoln,  like  the  rest  of  us, 
was  put  through  the  discipline  of  the  world, — a  very  rough 
and  exacting  discipline  for  him,  an  indispensable  discipline 
for  every  man  who  would  know  what  he  is  about  in  the 
midst  of  the  world's  affairs;  but  his  spirit  got  only  its 
schooling  there.  It  did  not  derive  its  character  or  its 
vision  from  the  experiences  which  brought  it  to  its  full 
revelation.  The  test  of  every  American  must  always  be, 
not  where  he  is,  but  what  he  is.  That,  also,  is  of  the 
essence  of  democracy,  and  is  the  moral  of  which  this  place 
is  most  gravely  expressive. 

"We  would  like  to  think  of  men  like  Lincoln  and  Wash- 
ington as  typical  Americans,  but  no  man  can  be  typical 
who  is  so  unusual  as  these  great  men  were.  It  was  typical 
of  American  life  that  it  should  produce  such  men  with 
supreme  indifference  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it  pro- 
duced them,  and  as  readily  here  in  this  hut  as  amidst 
the  little  circle  of  cultivated  gentlemen  to  whom  Virginia 
owed  so  much  in  leadership  and  example.  And  Lincoln 
and  Washington  were  typical  Americans  in  the  use  they 
made  of  their  genius.  But  there  will  be  few  such  men  at 
best,  and  we  will  not  look  into  the  mystery  of  how  and 
why  they  come.  We  will  only  keep  the  door  open  for  them 
always,  and  a  hearty  welcome, — after  we  have  recognized  them. 


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I  have  read  many  biographies  of  Lincoln;  I  have  sought 
out  with  the  greatest  interest  the  many  intimate  stories 
that  are  told  of  him,  the  narratives  of  near  by  friends,  the 
sketches  at  close  quarters,  in  which  those  who  had  the 
privilege  of  being  associated  with  him  have  tried  to  depict 
for  us  the  very  man  himself  "in  his  habit  as  he  lived" ;  but 
I  have  nowhere  found  a  real  intimate  of  Lincoln's.  I 
nowhere  get  the  impression  in  any  narrative  or  remin- 
iscence that  the  writer  had  in  fact  penetrated  to  the  heart 
of  his  mystery,  or  that  any  man  could  penetrate  to  the 
heart  of  it.  That  brooding  spirit  had  no  real  familiars.  I 
get  the  impression  that  it  never  spoke  out  in  complete  self- 
revelation,  and  that  it  could  not  reveal  itself  completely 
to  anyone.  It  was  a  very  lonely  spirit  that  looked  out  from 
underneath  those  shaggy  brows'  and  comprehended  men 
without  fully  communing  with  them,  as  if,  in  spite  of 
all  its  genial  efforts  at  comradeship,  it  dwelt  apart,  saw 
its  visions  of  duty  where  no  man  looked  on.  There  is  a 
very  holy  and  very  terrible  isolation  for  the  conscience  of 
every  man  who  seeks  to  read  the  destiny  in  affairs  for 
others  as  well  as  for  himself,  for  a  nation  as  well  as  for 
individuals.  That  privacy  no  man  can  intrude  upon. 
That  lonely  search  of  the  spirit  for  the  right  perhaps  no 
man  can  assist.  This  strange  child  of  the  cabin  kept  com- 
pany with  invisible  things,  was  born  into  no  intimacy  but 
that  of  his  own  silently  assembling  and  deploying  thoughts. 

I  have  come  here  today,  not  to  utter  a  eulogy  on  Lin- 
coln ;  he  stands  in  need  of  none,  but  to  endeavor  to  interpret 
the  meaning  of  this  gift  to  the  nation  of  the  place  of  his 
birth  and  origin.  Is  not  this  an  altar  upon  which  we 
may  forever  keep  alive  the  vestal  fire  of  democracy  as  upon 


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a  shrine  at  which  some  of  the  deepest  and  most  sacred 
hopes  of  mankind  may  from  age  to  age  be  rekindled?  For 
these  hopes  must  constantly  be  rekindled,  and  only  those 
who  live  can  rekindle  them.  The  only  stuff  that  can  retain 
the  life-giving  heat  is  the  stuff  of  living  hearts.  And  the 
hopes  of  mankind  cannot  be  kept  alive  by  words  merely, 
by  constitutions  and  doctrines  of  right  and  codes  of  liberty. 
The  object  of  democracy  is  to  transmute  these  into  the  life 
and  action  of  society,  the  self-denial  and  self-sacrifice  of 
heroic  men  and  women  willing  to  make  their  lives  an 
embodiment  of  right  and  service  and  enlightened  purpose. 
The  commands  of  democracy  are  as  imperative  as  its  privi- 
leges and  opportunities  are  wide  and  generous.  Its  com- 
pulsion is  upon  us.  It  will  be  great  and  lift  a  great  light 
for  the  guidance  of  the  nations  only  if  we  are  great  and 
carry  that  light  high  for  the  guidance  of  our  own  feet. 
We  are  not  worthy  to  stand  here  unless  we  ourselves  be  in 
deed  and  in  truth  real  democrats  and  servants  of  mankind, 
ready  to  give  our  very  lives  for  the  freedom  and  justice 
and  spiritual  exaltation  of  the  great  nation  which  shelters 
and  nurtures  us. 

^UDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  This  address  was  delivered  at  the  Lincoln  Birthplace,  Hod- 
genville,  Kentucky,  on  September  4,  1916.  On  this  occasion  the 
farm  on  which  Lincoln  was  born  was  presented  to  the  nation. 

2.  Why  is  the  little  cabin  in  which  Lincoln  was  bom  "eloquent 
of  the  vigor  of  democracy"?  What  stanzas  in  Gray's  Elegy  speak 
of  the  powers  that  may  be  possessed  by  men  of  humble  birth? 
What,  in  Gray's  time,  usually  prevented  such  powers  from  becom- 
ing Realized?  What  had  happened  in  the  world  since  then  to  make 
possible  what  Mr.  Wilson  speaks  of?  What  are  the  "authentic 
proofs  of  the  validity  and  vitality  of  democracy"? 


274  Builders  of  Democracy 

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3.  In  the  second  paragraph,  Mr.  Wilson  speaks  of  the  "mys- 
tery of  democracy."  What  is  it?  Is  the  story  of  Lincoln  merely 
the  story  of  a  boy  who  was  born  in  a  log  cabin  and  afterwards 
attained  a  high  place?  Is  the  log  cabin  the  secret?  Or  is  it  some- 
thing else  about  Lincoln  that  is  in  Mr.  Wilson's  mind  here  ?  What  is 
said  about  Lincoln's  "heart,"  his  "mind,"  and  his  "nature"? 

4.  Study  the  meaning  of  "catholic  and  benignant  sympathy." 
Look  up  the  word  "familiar,"  as  here  used,  in  your  dictionary. 

5.  Why  is  Lincoln's  birthplace  "a  place  alike  of  mystery  and 
of  reassurance"? 

6.  In  the  third  paragraph  is  a  definition  of  freedom.  Find 
it.  To  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth  (see  page  207)  the  sign  of  liberty 
was  what?  What  does  Mr.  Burke  say  about  this?  (See  page 
212.)  What  is  a  sign  of  freedom  to  Burns?  (See  pages  199,  200.) 
To  Whittier?  (See  page  261.)  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  said  that 
America  means  Opportunity.  Opportunity  for  what,  as  Mr.  Wil- 
son points  out  here? 

7.  "He  is  only  one  example  among  many."  Be  prepared  to  tell 
about  some  others. 

8.  Compare  what  Mr.  Wilson  says  about  Lincoln  as  a  typical 
American  with  what  you  have  studied  on  this  subject  before. 

9.  The  key  to  the  last  paragraph  is  in  the  reference  to  the 
vestal  fire.  Look  up  "vestal"  in  the  dictionary.  Then  read  care- 
fully through  the  paragraph,  noting  such  words  as  "rekindled," 
"life-giving  heat,"  "transmute,"  "lift  a  great  light."  Next  study 
the  sentence  about  "the  commands  of  democracy."  Does  a  man 
keep  these  commands  if  he  pays  taxes,  votes,  and  keeps  out  of  jail? 

10.  Thus  you  need  to  add  to  your  ideas  about  freedom  (the 
taxation  test,  the  equality  test,  the  voting  test,  the  opportunity- 
test)  a  new  definition.  You  will  find  it  in  the  sentence  about  "the 
object  of  democracy."  Put  the  idea  in  your  own  words.  Give 
some  illustrations. 


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THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  FREEDOM 
William  Cullen  Bryant 

0  Freedom,  thou  art  not,  as  poets  dream, 

A  fair  young  girl,  with  light  and  delicate  limbs, 

And  wavy  tresses  gushing  from  the  cap 

With  which  the  Roman  master  crowned  his  slave 

When  he  took  off  the  gyves.     A  bearded  man, 

Armed  to  the  teeth,  art  thou ;  one  mailed  hand 

Grasps  the  broad  shield,  and  one  the  sword;  thy  brow. 

Glorious  in  beauty  though  it  be,  is  scarred 

With  tokens  of  old  wars;  thy  massive  limbs 

Are  strong  with  struggling.    Power  at  thee  has  launched 

His  bolts,  and  with  his  lightnings  smitten  thee ; 

They  could  not  quench  the  life  thou  hast  from  heaven ; 

Merciless  Power  has  dug  thy  dungeon  deep, 

And  his  swart  armorers,  by  a  thousand  fires. 

Have  forged  thy  chain ;  yet,  while  he  deems  thee  bound, 

The  links  are  shivered,  and  the  prison-walls 

Fall  outward;  terribly  thou  springest  forth. 

As  springs  the  flame  above  a  burning  pile. 

And  shoutest  to  the  nations,  who  return 

Thy  shoutings,  while  the  pale  oppressor  flies. 

Thy  birthright  was  not  given  by  human  hands: 

Thou  wert  twin-bom  with  man.    In  pleasant  fields. 

While  yet  our  race  was  few,  thou  sat'st  with  him. 

To  tend  the  quiet  flock  and  watch  the  stars, 

And  teach  the  reed  to  utter  simple  airs. 

Thou  by  his  side,  amid  the  tangled  wood, 

Didst  war  upon  the  panther  and  the  wolf. 

His  only  foes;  and  thou  with  him  didst  draw 

The  earliest  furrow  on  the  mountain-side, 

Soft  with  the  deluge.     Tyranny  himself. 

Thy  enemy,  although  of  reverend  look. 

Hoary  with  many  years,  and  far  obeyed. 

Is  later  born  than  thou ;  and  as  he  meets 

The  grave  defiance  of  thine  elder  eye, 

The  usurper  trembles  in  his  fastnesses. 


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Thou  shalt  wax  stronger  with  the  lapse  of  years, 

But  he  shall  fade  into  a  feebler  age — 

Feebler,  yet  subtler.     He  shall  weave  his  snares. 

And  spring  them  on  thy  careless  steps,  and  clap 

His  withered  hands,  and  from  their  ambush  call 

His  hordes  to  fall  upon  thee.    He  shall  send 

Quaint  maskers,  wearing  fair  and  gallant  forms 

To  catch  thy  gaze,  and  uttering  graceful  words 

To  charm  thy  ear ;  while  his  sly  imps,  by  stealth, 

Twine  round  thee  threads  of  steel,  light  thread  on  thread. 

That  grow  to  fetters ;  or  bind  down  thy  arms 

With  chains  concealed  in  chaplets.    Oh !  not  yet 

Mayst  thou  unbrace  thy  corslet,  nor  lay  by 

Thy  sword ;  nor  yet,  0  Freedom !  close  thy  lids 

In  slumber ;  for  thine  enemy  never  sleeps, 

And  thou  must  watch  and  combat  till  the  day 

Of  the  new  earth  and  heaven. 


STUDIES  AND  NOTES 

1.  Mr.  Wilson's  address,  you  will  remember,  closed  with  the 
idea  that  Freedom  puts  upon  us  duties  as  well  as  privileges.  "Con- 
stitutions and  doctrines  of  right  and  codes  of  liberty" — ^the  forms 
of  government  that  we  have,  do  not  of  themselves  make  certain 
that  we  shall  always  be  a  free  nation.  We  are  all  "makers  of 
the  flag." 

2.  This  poem  by  Mr.  Bryant  presents  the  truth  in  the  form 
of  a  picture.  He  helps  you  to  see  the  spirit  of  Freedom  as  a 
painter  would  represent  it  in  colors,  or  as  a  sculptor  would  repre- 
sent it  in  marble.  Imagine  yourself  to  be  the  artist  and  try  to 
see,  "in  your  mind's  eye,"  the  picture  or  the  statue. 

3.  Freedom,  you  will  see,  is  not  like  a  young  girl,  freed  from 
slavery  by  a  Roman  master,  but  a  man  grown  strong  through 
centuries  of  struggle.  See  how  each  line  makes  clearer  the 
picture. 

4.  The  picture  of  the  early  days,  in  which  the  Spirit  of  Free- 
dom was  like  a  shepherd,  watching  his  flock,  and  playing  simple 


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tunes  upon  a  reed  (an  instrument  somewhat  like  a  flute),  suggests 
how  men  lived  before  Tyranny  was  born.  Why  is  Tyranny 
younger  than  Freedom? 

5.  The  third  picture  is  of  the  strong  man  in  danger  of  being 
trapped  by  enemies  who  seem  unimportant.  Tyranny  is  repre- 
sented here  as  an  old  magician,  like  Comus  (see  page  166).  What 
fetters  do  you  think  the  poet  has  in  mind?  Notice  that  Tyranny 
takes  many  forms — a  jailer,  a  magician.  We  might  add,  from 
Beowulf,  the  dragon. 

6.  Now  return  to  the  passage  beginning  in  line  5 :  "A  bearded 
man,"  etc.  Think  of  the  incidents  in  the  long  story  that  has  been 
set  forth  in  this  section  about  THE  BUILDERS  AND  THEIR 
WORK,  from  the  story  of  Beowulf  to  the  death  of  Lincoln,  both 
of  them  martyrs  in  the  age-long  fight  for  freedom.  What  are  the 
"old  wars"  Mr.  Bryant  refers  to  and  which  you  now  know  about? 
At  what  times,  though  the  tyrant  thought  the  free  spirit  of  man 
was  bound,  has  the  tyrant  been  overcome? 

7.  Finally,  apply  this  picture  of  the  never-ending  contest  to 
Germany,  the  new  form  which  the  dragon  has  taken,  and  to  the 
Allies,  the  new  Beowulf. 


THE  SHIP  OF  STATE 
Henby  Wadsworth  Longfellow 

Thou,  too,  sail  on,  0  Ship  of  State ! 
Sail  on,  0  Union,  strong  and  great! 
Humanity  with  all  its  fears. 
With  all  the  hopes  of  future  years, 
Is  hanging  breathless  on  thy  fate! 
We  know  what  Master  laid  thy  keel. 
What  Workmen  wrought  thy  ribs  of  steel. 
Who  made  each  mast,  and  sail,  and  rope. 
What  anvils  rang,  what  hammers  beat. 
In  what  a  forge  and  what  a  heat 
Were  shaped  the  anchors  of  thy  hope! 
Fear  not  each  sudden  sound  and  shock, 
'Tis  of  the  wave  and  not  the  rock; 


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'Tis  but  the  flapping  of  the  sail. 

And  not  a  rent  made  by  the  gale ! 

In  spite  of  rock  and  tempest's  roar, 

In  spite  of  false  lights  on  the  shore, 

Sail  on,  nor  fear  to  breast  the  sea ! 

Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  are  all  with  thee. 

Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears. 

Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 

Are  all  with  thee — are  all  with  thee ! 


PART  THREE 

SOLDIEES  OF  FREEDOM 

You  remember  Arthur's  wonderful  sword,  Excalibur, 
with  its  mysterious  inscriptions.  On  one  side  were  the 
words  "Keep  Me/'  and  on  the  other,  "Throw  Me  Away." 
Vou  are  now  ready  for  an  explanation  of  these  magic 
words.    It  is  a  sort  of  initiation  into  a  brotherhood. 

"Keep  Me" — that  is  your  life.  It  is  a  weapon  given 
you  for  your  work  in  the  world.  How  it  has  gained  value 
the  long  story  of  Part  II  has  told  you,  for  it  is  the  first 
great  principle  of  Democracy  that  every  man's  life  has 
value,  is  something  to  be  developed.  Democracy  gives 
every  man  a  chance  for  this  development.  So  "Keep  Me" 
means  that  you  are  to  get  the  best  education  you  can  and 
then  that  you  are  to  make  the  best  possible  farmer  or  mer- 
chant or  engineer  or  lawyer  or  doctor  out  of  yourself.  You 
are  the  builder  of  your  own  fortune.  In  free  America  you 
do  not  follow  a  calling  or  business  because  the  government 
tells  you  to.  You  do  not  hold  your  opinions  because  the 
government  tells  you  what  to  think.  But  you  should  also 
remember  that  you  have  no  right  to  loaf,  or  to  refuse  to 
make  for  yourself  the  greatest  career  of  which  you  are  capa- 
ble, or  to  think  lazily  or  not  at  all.  Excalibur,  Sword  of 
Life,  is  in  your  hands.  "Keep  Me !"  is  the  command ; 
"Use  me  like  a  man,  not  like  a  coward  or  a  slave !" 

But  A^ou  also  hear  the  command,  "Throw  Me  Away!" 
^Yhat  this  means,  also,  you  have  learned  in  this  long  story. 
Your  life  is  not  yours  alone.     Or,  rather,  it  is  never  so 

279 


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much  yours  as  when  you  throw  it  away,  use  it  for  others, 
join  in  those  great  enterprises  of  the  human  spirit  of 
which  you  have  heard  so  much  in  this  book. 

The  most  wonderful  thing  about  life  in  America  today 
is  that  people  are  finding  out  the  blessedness  of  giving 
themselves.  Whether  it  is  going  without  sugar  that  the 
soldiers  may  have  it,  or  wheat  that  starving  children  in 
France  may  have  it,  or  some  luxury  that  a  smile  may  come 
to  the  tired  little  face  of  a  Belgian  baby — it  is  all  the  same. 
Or  whether  men  give  themselves  more  completely, — the 
riveter  in  the  ship  yard  who  thinks  not  of  the  wages  but 
of  the  ship  that  is  to  carry  food  to  hungry  France;  the 
farmer  who  raises  more  food  crops  than  ever  before,  not 
because  he  can  make  more  money,  but  because  the  world 
is  starving;  the  business  man  who  thinks  only  of  serving 
the  needs  of  the  country  for  thorough  business  organiza- 
tion ;  the  soldier  and  the  sailor  who  fight  for  the  freedom  of 
the  world, — once  more,  it  is  all  the  same.  And  the  Eed  Cross 
worker,  the  physician,  the  men  and  women  who  sell  Liberty 
Bonds  and  War  Savings  Stamps,  and  .all  those  who  deny 
themselves  in  order  to  give  or  lend  their  money — all  are  liv- 
ing up  to  the  command  written  on  the  bright  Sword  of  Life : 
"Throw  Me  Away !"  In  all  this  we  find  the  second  great 
law  of  Democracy — cooperation  of  all  for  the  good  of  all. 


^ow  let  us  read  two  fine  expressions  of  these  ideas  of 
brotherhood  and  of  sacrifice.  The  first  was  written  by 
a  little  girl,  a  school  girl  of  France,  as  a  greeting  to 
America.  It  tells  how  the  brave,  suffering  people  of 
Lafayette's  country  felt  when  they  learned 'that  America 
was  coming  to  their  aid.     And  the  second  comes  from  a 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  281 


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speech  by  that  great  Welshman,  Lloyd  George,  who  is  Frime 
Minister  of  Great  Britain.  You  remember  that  you  learned, 
earlier  in  the  book,  that  he  belongs  to  the  race  to  which 
King  Arthur,  wielder  of  the  sword  Excalibur,  belonged. 

TO  AIVIERICA 

BY  A   SCHOOL  GIRL   OF   FRANCE 

It  was  only  a  little  river,  almost  a  brook;  it  was  called 
the  Yser.  One  could  talk  from  one  side  to  the  other  with- 
out raising  one's  voice,  and  the  birds  could  fly  over  it  with 
one  sweep  of  their  wings.  And  on  the  two  banks  there 
were  millions  of  men,  the  one  turned  toward  the  other,  eye 
to  eye.  But  this  distance  which  separated  them  was  greater 
than  the  stars  in  the  sky;  it  was  the  distance  which  sep- 
arates right  from  injustice. 

The  ocean  is  so  vast  the  sea  gulls  do  not  dare  to  cross  it. 
During  seven  days  and  seven  nights  the  great  steamships 
of  America,  going  at  full  speed,  drive  through  the  deep 
waters  before  the  lighthouses  of  France  come  into  view; 
but  from  one  side  to  the  other,  hearts  are  touching. 

THE  HILLS  OF  SACRIFICE 

DAVID  LLOYD   GEORGE 

I  envy  you  young  people  your  youth.  They  have  put  up 
the  age  limit  for  the  Army,  but  I  march,  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
a  good  many  years  even  beyond  that.  But  still  our  turn 
will  come.  It  is  a  great  opportunity.  It  only  comes  once 
in  many  centuries  to  the  children  of  men.  For  most  gen- 
erations sacrifice  comes  in  drab  weariness  of  spirit  to  men. 
It  has  come  today  to  you ;  it  has  come  today  to  us  all,  in 


282  Builders  of  Democracy 

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the  form  of  the  glory  and  thrill  of  a  great  movement  for 
liberty,  that  impels  millions  throughout  Europe  to  the  same 
end.  It  is  a  great  war  for  the  emancipation  of  Europe  from 
the  thraldom  of  a  military  caste,  which  has  cast  its  shadow 
upon  two  generations  of  men,  and  which  has  now  plunged 
the  world  into  a  welter  of  bloodshed.  Some  have  already 
given  their  lives.  There  are  some  who  have  given  more 
than  their  own  lives.  They  have  given  the  lives  of  those 
who  are  dear  to  them.  I  honor  their  courage,  and  may  God 
be  their  comfort  and  their  strength. 

But  their  reward  is  at  hand.  Those  who  have  fallen  have 
consecrated  deaths.  They  have  taken  their  part  in  the 
making  of  a  new  Europe,  a  new  world.  I  can  see  signs 
of  its  coming  in  the  glare  of  the  battlefield.  The  people 
will  gain  more  by  this  struggle  in  all  lands  than  they  com- 
prehend at  the  present  moment.  It  is  true  they  will  be 
rid  of  the  menace  to  their  freedom.  But  that  is  not  all. 
There  is  something  infinitely  greater  and  more  enduring 
which  is  emerging  already  out  of  this  great  conflict ;  a  new 
patriotism,  richer,  nobler,  more  exalted  than  the  old.  I  see 
a  new  recognition  amongst  all  classes,  high  and  low,  shed- 
ding themselves  of  selfishness;  a  new  recognition  that  the 
honor  of  a  country  does  not  depend  merely  on  the  mainte- 
nance of  its  glory  in  the  stricken  field,  but  in  protecting 
its  homes  from  distress  as  well.  It  is  a  new  patriotism,  it 
is  bringing  a  new  outlook  for  all  classes.  A  great  flood  of 
luxury  and  of  sloth  which  had  submerged  the  land  is  reced- 
ing, and  a  new  Britain  is  appearing.  We  can  see  for  the 
first  time  the  fundamental  things  that  matter  in  life  and 
that  have  been  obscured  from  our  vision  by  the  tropical 
growth  of  prosperity. 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  283 

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May  I  tell  you,  in  a  simple  parable,  what  I  think  this 
war  is  doing  for  us?  I  know  a  valley  in  North  Wales, 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea — a  beautiful  valley, 
snug,  comfortable,  sheltered  by  the  mountains  from  all  the 
bitter  blasts.  It  was  very  enervating,  and  I  remember  how 
the  boys  were  in  the  habit  of  climbing  the  hills  above  the 
village  to  have  a  glimpse  of  the  great  mountains  in  the 
distance,  and  to  be  stimulated  and  freshened  by  the  breezes 
which  came  from  the  hill-tops,  and  by  the  great  spectacle 
of  that  great  valley. 

We  have  been  living  in  a  sheltered  valley  for  genera- 
tions. We  have  been  too  comfortable,  too  indulgent,  many, 
perhaps,  too  selfish.  And  the  stern  hand  of  fate  has 
scourged  us  to  an  elevation  where  we  can  see  the  great 
everlasting  things  that  matter  for  a  nation ;  the  great  peaks 
of  honor  we  had  forgotten — duty  and  patriotism  clad  in 
glittering  white;  the  great  pinnacle  of  sacrifice  pointing 
like  a  rugged  finger  to  Heaven.  We  shall  descend  into  the 
valleys  again,  but  as  long  as  the  men  and  women  of  this 
generation  last  they  will  carry  in  their  hearts  the  image 
of  these  great  mountain  peaks,  whose  foundations  are  un- 
shaken though  Europe  rock  and.  sway  in  the  convulsions 
of  a  great  war. 

I.  ALLIES 

In  the  selections  that  follow  you  will  catch  something  of 
the  spirit  of  love  and  devotion  that  has  bound  the  Allies 
together  through  years  of  bitter  struggle.  The  first  two 
poems  show  how  brave  Belgium  cast  herself  in  the  way  of 
the  tyrant  and  stayed  his  hordes  until  France  and  England 
could  get  ready.    The  three  poems  about  France  are  filled 


284  Builders  of  Democracy 

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with  the  spirit  that  has  made  the  country  of  Jeanne  d'Arc 
and  Lafayette  the  admiration  of  the  world.  Miss  Cone's 
"Chant  of  Love  for  England"  is  an  answer  to  a  famous 
German  poem  of  hate.  This  poem  contains  more  allusions 
to  events  in  history  than  the  others,  but  most  of  them  you 
can  understand  from  your  reading  of  Part  II  and  the  others 
you  will  find  explained  in  the  Glossary. 

[N'ext  you  will  read  two  of  the  many  messages  of  welcome 
to  America  upon  our  entry  into  the  war.  The  first  of  these 
gives  a  vivid  picture  of  these  great  champions  of 
Democracy,  Allies,  as  they  attack  with  the  dawn.  The 
second  refers  to  Walt  Whitman  ("your  rugged  poet")  and 
to  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  also  tells  why  Italy  is  one  of  the 
Allies.  The  summary  of  America's  reasons  for  enter- 
ing the  war  will  help  you  to  recall  some  matters  that  you 
first  learned  about  in  Part  I,  and  President  Wilson's 
famous  "Force"  speech  may  be  regarded  as  the  Pledge  of 
America  that  the  cruel  and  unrighteous  power  that  attacked 
Belgium  and  France  shall  be  completely  crushed  so  that 
free  and  inoffensive  people  shall  never  again  feel  its  threat. 

BELGIUM  THE  BAR-LASS 

A.   MARY  F.  EOBINSON 

The  night  was  still.    The  King  sat  with  the  Queen. 
She  sang.    Her  maidens  spun.    A  peaceful  scene. 
Sudden,  wild  echoes  shake  the  castle  wall. 
Their  foes  come  crashing  through  the  outer  hall. 
They  rush  like  thunder  down  the  gallery  floor   .    .    . 
.    .    .   Someone  has  stolen  the  bolt  that  bars  the  door  t 
No  pin  to  hold  the  loops,  no  stick,  no  stave, 
Nothing !     An  open  door,  an  open  grave  !     • 
Then  Catherine  Bar-lass  thrust  her  naked  arm 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  285 


(A  girPs  arm,  white- as  milk,  alive  and  warm) 
Eight  through  the  loops  from  which  the  bolt  was  gone 
"'Twill  hold  (she  said)  until  they  break  the  bone — 
My  King,  you  have  one  instant  to  prepare !" 
She  said  no  more,  because  the  thrust  was  there. 

Oft  have  I  heard  that  tale  of  Scotland's  King, 
The  Poet,  and  Kate  the  Bar-lass.     (Men  will  sing 
For  aye  the  deed  one  moment  brings  to  birth — 
Such  moments  are  the  ransom  of  our  Earth.) 
Brave  Belgium,  Bar-lass  of  our  western  world. 
Who,  when  the  treacherous  Prussian  tyrant  hurled 
His  hordes  against  our  peace,  thrust  a  slight  hand, 
So  firm,  to  bolt  our  portals  and  withstand. 
Whatever  prove  the  glory  of  our  affray. 
Thine  arm,  thy  heart,  thine  act  have  won  the  day ! 


HEART  OF  ALL  THE  WORLD 

(Belgium) 

MARION    C.    SMITH 

Heartstruck  she  stands — Our  Lady  of  all  Sorrows — 
Circled  with  ruin,  sunk  in  deep  amaze ; 

Facing  the  shadow  of  her  dark  tomorrows. 
Mourning  the  glory  of  her  yesterdays. 

Yet  is  she  queen  by  every  royal  token. 

There,  where  the  storm  of  desolation  swirled : 

Crowned  only  with  the  thorn — despoiled  and  broken- 
Her  kingdom  is  the  heart  of  all  the  world. 

She  made  her  breast  a  shield,  her  sword  a  splendor. 
She  rose  like  flame  upon  the  darkened  ways ; 

So,  through  the  anguish  of  her  proud  surrender 
Breaks  the  clear  vision  of  undying  praise. 


286  Builders  of  Democracy 

THE  SOUL  OF  JEANNE  D'ARC 

THEODOSIA  GARRISON 

She  came  not  into  the  Presence  as  a  martyred  saint  might 

come, 
Crowned,  white-robed,  and  adoring,  with  very  reverence 

dumb, — 
She  stood  as  a  straight  young  soldier,  confident,  gallant, 

strong. 
Who  asks  a  boon  of  his  captain  in  the  sudden  hush  of  the 

drum. 

She  said :  ''Now  have  I  stayed  too  long  in  this  my  place  of 
bliss. 

With  these  glad  dead  that,  comforted,  forget  what  sor- 
row is 

Upon  that  world  whose  stony  stairs  they  climbed  to  come 
to  this. 

"But  lo,  a  cry  hath  torn  the  peace  wherein  so  long  I  stayed. 
Like  a  trumpef  s  call  at  Heaven's  wall  from  a  herald  un- 
afraid,— 
A  million  voices  in  one  cry,  ^Where  is  the  Maid,  the  Maid?' 

"I  had  forgot  from  too  much  joy  that  olden  task  of  mine. 
But  I  have  heard  a  certain  word  shatter  the  chant  divine. 
Have  watched  a  banner  glow  and  grow  before  mine  eyes, 
for  sign. 

"I  would  return  to  that  my  land  flung  in  the  teeth  of  war, 
I  would  cast  down  my  robe  and  crown  that  pleasure  me  no 

more, 
And  don  the  armor  that  I  knew,  the  valiant  sword  I  bore. 

"And  angels  militant  shall  fling  the  gates  of  Heaven  wide. 
And  souls  new-dead  whose  lives  were  shed  like  leaves  on 

war's  red  tide 
Shall  cross  their  swords  above  our  heads  and  cheer  us  as 

we  ride. 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  287 

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"For  with  me  goes  that  soldier  saint,  St.  Michael  of  the 

sword. 
And  I  shall  ride  on  his  right  side,  a  page  beside  his  lord. 
And  men  shall  follow  like  swift  blades  to  reap  a  sure  reward. 

"Grant  that  I  answer  this  my  call,  yea,  though  the  end 

may  be 
The  naked  shame,  the  biting  flame,  the  last,  long  agony ; 
I  would  go  singing  down  that  road  where  fagots  wait  for  me. 

"Mine  be  the  fire  about  my  feet,  the  smoke  above  my  head ; 
So  might  I  glow,  a  torch  to  show  the  path  my  heroes 

tread ; 
My  Captain!  Oh,  my  Captain,  let  me  go  hack!'*  she  said. 

QUI  VIVE? 

GRACE   ELLERY   CHANNINQ 

Qui  vive  ?    Who  passes  by  up  there  ? 
Who  moves — what  stirs  in  the  startled  air? 
What  whispers,  thrills,  exults  up  there? 
Qui  vive? 

"The  Flags  of  France." 

What  wind  on  a  windless  night  is  this, 
That  breathes  as  light  as  a  lover's  kiss, 
That  blows  through  the  night  with  bugle  notes, 
That  streams  like  a  pennant  from  a  lance. 
That  rustles,  that  floats? 
"The  Flags  of  France." 

What  richly  moves,  what  lightly  stirs, 
Like  a  noble  lady  in  a  dance. 
When  all  men's  eyes  are  m  love  with  hers 
And  needs  must  follow  ? 

"The  Flags  of  France." 


288  Builders  of  Democracy 

uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii nniiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

What  calls  to  the  heart— and  the  heart  has  heard— 
Speaks,  and  the  soul  has  obeyed  the  word — 
Summons,  and  all  the  years  advance, 
And  the  world  goes  forward  with  France — with  France  ^ 
Who  called? 

"The  Flags  of  France." 

What  flies — a  glory,  through  the  night, 
While  the  legions  stream — a  line  of  light. 
And  men  fall  to  the  left  and  fall  to  the  right. 
But  they  fall  not? 

"The  Flags  of  France." 

Qui  Vive  f    Who  comes  ?    What  approaches  there  ? 
What  soundless  tumult,  what  breath  in  the  air 
Takes  the  breath  in  the  throat,  the  blood  from  the  heart  ? 
In  a  flame  of  dark,  to  the  unheard  beat 
Of  an  unseen  drum  and  fleshless  feet. 
Without  glint  of  barrel  or  bayonets'  glance. 
They  approach — they  come.  Who  comes  ?  (Hush !  Hark !) 
"Qui  vive??' 

"The  Flags  of  France." 


Uncover  the  head  and  kneel — kneel  down; 
A  monarch  passes,  without  a  crown. 
Let  the  proud  tears  fall  but  the  heart  beat  high 
The  Greatest  of  All  is  passing  by. 
On  its  endless  march  in  the  endless  Plan: 
"Qui  vive?" 

"The  Spirit  of  Man." 

"0  Spirit  of  Man,  pass  on !    Advance !" 
And  they  who  lead,  who  hold  the  van? 
Kneel  down! 

"The  Flags  of  France." 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  289 

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VIVE  LA  FRANCE! 

CHARLOTTE   H.    CRAWFORD 

Franceline  rose  in  the  dawning  gray, 
And  lier  heart  would  dance  though  she  knelt  to  pray, 
For  her  man  Michel  had  holiday. 
Fighting  for  France. 

She  offered  her  prayer  by  the  cradle-side, 
And  with  baby  palms  folded  in  hers  she  cried : 
"If  I  have  but  one  prayer,  dear,  crucified 
Christ — save  France ! 

But  if  I  have  two,  then,  by  Mary's  grace. 
Carry  me  safe  to  the  meeting-place. 
Let  me  look  once  again  on  my  dear  love's  face — 
Save  him  for  France  !" 

She  crooned  to  her  boy:  "Oh,  how  glad  he'll  be. 
Little  three-months-old,  to  set  eyes  on  thee ! 
For,  'Bather  than  gold  would  I  give,'  wrote  he, 
'A  son  to  France.' 

Come,  now,  be  good,  little  stray  sauterelle. 
For  we're  going  by-by  to  thy  Papa  Michel ; 
But  I'll  not  say  where  for  fear  thou  wilt  tell. 
Little  pigeon  of  France ! 

Six  days'  leave  and  a  year  between ! 
But  what  would  you  have  ?    In  six  days  clean 
Heaven  was  made,"  said  Franceline, 
"Heaven  and  France." 

She  came  to  the  town  of  the  nameless  name. 
To  the  marching  troops  in  the  street  she  came. 
And  she  held  high  her  boy  like  a  taper  flame 
Burning  for  France. 


290  Builders  of  Democracy 

iimuiiiiiiiiiiininiiuiiuiiiiMiiiuniiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniiNMiiiiinniiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiH 

Fresh  from  the  trenches  and  gray  with  grime. 
Silent  they  march  like  a  pantomime ; 
"But  what  need  of  music  ?    My  heart  beats  time — 
Vive  la  France  r 

His  regiment  comes.    Oh,  then,  where  is  he? 
"There  is  dust  in  my  eyes,  for  I  cannot  see — 
Is  that  my  Michel  to  the  right  of  thee, 
Soldier  of  France?" 

Then  out  of  the  ranks  a  comrade  fell : 
"Yesterday — 'twas  a  splinter  of  shell — 
And  he  whispered  thy  name,  did  thy  poor  Michel, 
Dying  for  France/' 

The  tread  of  the  troops  on  the  pavement  throbbed 
Like  a  woman's  heart  of  its  last  joy  robbed 
As  she  lifted  her  boy  to  the  flag,  and  sobbed : 
"Vive  la  France !" 

A  CHANT  OF  LOVE  FOR  ENGLAND* 

HELEN   GRAY   CONE 

A  song  of  hate  is  a  song  of  Hell; 
Some  there  be  that  sing  it  well. 
Let  them  sing  it  loud  and  long. 
We  lift  our  hearts  in  a  loftier  song; 
We  lift  our  hearts  to  Heaven  above, 
Singing  the  glory  of  her  we  love, — 
England ! 

Glory  of  thought  and  gbry  of  deed. 
Glory  of  Hampden  and  Runnymede;, 
Glory  of  ships  that  sought  far  goals, 
Glory  of  swords  and  glory  of  souls! 
*  Glory  of  songs  mounting  as  birds. 
Glory  immortal  of  magical  words; 


*Taken    by    permission    of    the    E.    P.    Button    Company    from 
A  Chant  of  Love  for  England  and  Other  Poems. 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  291 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniMiiiiiiniMiiiiMiniiiiiiiiiiMiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiNiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiniiiniiiiiiintiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 

Glory  of  Milton,  glory  of  Nelson, 
Tragical  glory  of  Gordon  and  Scott; 
Glory  of  Shelley,  glory  of  Sidney, 
Glory  transcendent  that  perishes  not, — 
Here  is  the  story,  here  be  the  glory, 
England! 

Shatter  her  beauteous  breast  ye  may; 
The  spirit  of  England  none  can  slay! 
Dash  the  bomb  on  the  dome  of  Paul's — 
Deem  ye  the  fame  of  the  Admiral  falls  ? 
Pry  the  stone  from  the  chancel  floor, — 
Dream  ye  that  Shakespeare  shall  live  no  more  ? 
Where  is  the  giant  shot  that  kills 
Wordsworth  walking  the  old  green  hills? 
Trample  the  red  rose  on  the  ground, — 
Keats  is  Beauty  while  earth  spins  round! 
Bind  her,  grind  her,  burn  her  with  fire,     . 
Cast  her  ashes  into  the  sea, — 
She  shall  escape,  she  shall  aspire, 
She  shall  arise  to  make  men  free: 
She  shall  arise  in  a  sacred  scorn, 
Lighting  the  lives  that  are  yet  unborn; 
Spirit  supernal,  Splendor  eternal, 
England! 


ATTACKING  WITH  THE  DAWN 

DAVID  LLOYD  GEORGE 

I  am  the  last  man  in  the  world,  knowing  for  three  years 
what  our  difficulties  have  been,  what  our  anxieties  have 
been,  and  what  our  fears  have  been — I  am  the  last  man 
in  the  world  to  say  that  the  succor  which  is  given  from 
America  is  not  in  itself  something  to  rejoice  at,  and  to 
rejoice  at  greatly.     But  I  also  say  that  I  value  more  the 


292  Builders  of  Democracy 

imiiiiiuiiiHiiiiiiiiiHiiiimiiiiiiiimiiiiiniiiiMinnnniMiihinMniiinnMUMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiirMiiniiiMiiiiiiiimiiiiiii^ 

knowledge  that  America  is  going  to  win  a  right  to  be  at 
the  conference  table  when  the  terms  of  peace  are  discussed. 

That  conference  will  settle  the  destiny  of  nations  and 
the  course  of  human  life  for  God  knows  how  many  years. 
It  would  have  been  a  tragedy,  a  tragedy  for  mankind,  if 
America  had  not  been  there,  and  there  with  all  her  influ- 
ence and  her  power. 

I  can  see  peace,  not  a  peace  to  be  a  beginning  of  war, 
not  a  peace  which  will  be  an  endless  preparation  for  strife 
and  bloodshed^  but  a  real  peace.  The  world  is  an  old  world. 
You  have  never. had  the  racking  wars  that  have  rolled  like 
an  ocean  over  Europe. 

Europe  has  always  lived  under  the  menace  of  the  sword. 
When  this  war  began,  two-thirds  of  Europe  was  under  auto- 
cratic rule.  Now  it  is  the  other  way  about,  and  democracy 
means  peace.  The  democracy  of  France  hesitated;  the 
democracy  of  Italy  hesitated  long  before  it  entered;  the 
democracy  of  this  country  sprang  back  with  a  shudder  and 
would  never  have  entered  that  caldron  had  it  not  been  for 
the  invasion  of  Belgium ;  and  if  Prussia  had  been  a  democ- 
racy, there  would  have  been  no  war. 

Many  strange  things  have  happened  in  this  war,  aye,  and 
stranger  things  will  come,  and  they  are  coming  rapidly. 
There  are  times  in  history  when  this  world  spins  so  leisurely 
along  its  destined  course  that  it  seems  for  centuries  to  be 
at  a  standstill.  There  are  awful  times  when  it  rushes  along 
at  giddying  pace,  covering  the  track  of  centuries  in  a  year. 
Those  are  the  times  we  are  living  in  now.  Six  weeks  ago 
Eussia  was  an  autocracy.  She  now  is  one  of  the  most  ad- 
vanced democracies  in  the  world. 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  293 

ililiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMi  iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

Today  we  are  waging  one  of  the  most  devastating  wars 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Tomorrow,  tomorrow,  not 
perhaps  distant  tomorrows,  war  may  be  abolished  forever 
from  the  category  of  human  crimes.  This  may  be  some- 
thing like  that  fierce  outburst  of  winter  which  we  now  are 
witnessing  before  we  complete  the  time  for  the  summer. 

It  is  written  of  those  gallant  men  who  won  that  victory 
on  Monday,  from  Canada,  from  Australia,  and  from  this 
old  country — it  has  proved  that  in  spite  of  its  age  it  is  not 
decrepit — it  is  written  of  those  gallant  men  that  they  at- 
tacked at  dawn.  Fitting  work  for  the'  dawn — to  drive  out 
of  forty  miles  of  French  soil  those  miscreants  who  had  de- 
filed her  freedom.  They  attacked  with  the  dawn.  It  is  a 
significant  phrase. 

The  great  nations  represented  in  the  struggle  for  free- 
dom— they  are  the  heralds  of  dawn.  They  attacked  with 
dawn,  and  those  men  are  marching  forward  in  the  full 
radiance  of  that  dawn,  and  soon  Frenchmen  and  Ameri- 
cans, British  and  Russians,  aye,  Serbians,  and  Belgians, 
^lontenegrins,  and  Roumanians,  will  emerge  into  the  full 
light  of  a  perfect  day. 

AMERICA,  A  BEACON  LIGHT  OF  PEACE 

GABBIELE  D'ANNUNZIO 

For  the  soul  of  Italy  today  the  capitol  at  Washington  has 
become  a  beacon  light.  A  Roman  garland  wreathes  the  bust 
dedicated  to  the  hero  whom  free  men  call  the  glorious 
knight  of  humanity. 

It  is  a  garland  pure  as  the  branch  of  lilac  offered  by  a 
poet  on  the  bier  of  Lincoln.    It  is  sacred  as  the  ever  flow- 


294  Builders  of  Democracy 

ititriiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiriiiiiiiiitiiiiiiii tin iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiii 

ering  bough  "with  heart-shaped  leaves  of  rich  green."  It 
seems  as  though  in  this  April  of  passion  and  tempest  there 
reechoes  the  cry  of  that  April,  tense  with  joy  and  anguish 
"0  captain!  My  captain,  rise  up!  Hear  the  bells.  Else 
up,  for  your  flag  is  flung.'^ 

Now  the  group  of  stars  on  the  banner  of  the  great  re- 
public has  become  a  constellation  of  the  spring,  like 
Pleiades;  a  propitious  sign  to  sailors,  armed  and  unarmed 
alike;  a  spiritual  token  for  all  nations  fighting  a  righteous 
war.  I  give  the  salute  of  Italy,  of  the  Eoman  capitol,  to 
the  capitol  at  Washington;  a  salute  to  the  people  of  the 
union,  who  now  confirm  and  seal  the  pledge  that  liberty 
shall  be  preserved. 

To  Italy  alone  of  the  allied  nations  the  possibility  was 
open  of  avoiding  war  and  remaining  a  passive  spectator. 
Italy  took  up  arms  gladly,  less  for  the  reconquest  of  her 
heritage  than  for  the  salvation  of  all  the  things  which 
symbolize  the  grandeur  of  freedom.  She  armed  herself,  as 
today  the  American  nation  is  arming  herself,  for  the  sake 
of  an  ideal.  The  spontaneous  act  consummated  by  the 
fellow-countrymen  of  Washington  is  a  glorious  sacrifice  on 
behalf  of  the  hopes  of  all  mankind. 

America  has  achieved  a  new  birth.  She  has  molded  for 
herself  a  new  heart.  This  is  the  miracle  wrought  by  a 
righteous  war^  the  miracle  that  unexpectedly  today  we  of 
Italy  see  performed  beyond  an  ocean  dishonored  by  assas- 
sins and  thieves. 

Our  war  is  not  destructive.  It  is  creative.  With  all 
manner  of  atrocities,  all  manner  of  shameful  acts,  the  bar- 
barian has  striven  to  destroy  the  ideal  which,  until  this 
struggle  began,  man  had  of  man.     The  barbarian  heaped 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  295 

iiiiniMiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiniMniiiiitiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimii 

upon  the  innocent,  infamous  outrages  inspired  by  hate, 
alternating  senile  imprudence  and  brutal  stupidity.  The 
barbarian  ground  heroism  to  earth,  cast  down  the  airy 
cathedrals  where  congregated  the  aspirations  of  the  eternal 
soul,  burned  the  seats  of  wisdom  decked  with  the  flowers 
of  all  the  arts;  distorted  the  lineaments  of  Christ,  tore  off 
the  garments  of  the  Virgin. 

Now  once  again  we  begin  to  have  hope  of  the  nobility  of 
man.  Love's  face  is  radiant,  though  its  eyes  are  moist  with 
tears,  for  never  was  love  so  much  beloved.  Love  overflows 
on  all  the  world  like  a  brook  in  May.  Our  hearts  axe  not 
large  enough  to  gather  it  and  to  hold  it. 

The  people  of  Lincoln,  springing  to  their  feet  to  defend 
the  eternal  spirit  of  man,  today  increase  immeasurably  this 
sum  of  love  opposed  to  fury^  the  fury  of  the  barbarian. 

"Ah !  Liberty.  Let  others  despair  of  thee.  1  will  never 
despair  of  thee,"  once  cried  your  rugged  poet.  In  this  hope 
your  nation  arises  today,  in  the  north,  south,  east,  west,  to 
offer  your  strength,  proclaiming  our  cause  to  be  the  noblest 
cause  for  which  men  have  ever  fought.  You  were  an  enor- 
mous and  obtuse  mass  of  riches  and  power;  now  you  are 
transfigured  into  ardent,  active  spirituality.  The  roll  of 
your  drums  drowns  out  the  last  wail  of  doubt. 

April  15th  is  the  anniversary  of  Lincoln's  death.  From 
his  sepulcher  there  issue  again  the  noble  words  which  fell 
from  his  lips  at  Gettysburg,  on  soil  sanctified  by  the  blood 
of  brave  men.  All  your  states,  north,  south,  east,  west,  hear 
them.  I  say  to  you  that  "this  nation,  under  God,  shall 
have  a  new  birth  of  freedom.'' 


296  Builders  of  Democracy 

MiiiiiiiiiininiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiuiuiiiiiiinHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiH 
WHY  WE  ARE  FIGHTING  GERMANY 

FRANKLIN  K.  LANE 

Why  are  we  fighting  Germany  ?  The  brief  answer  is  that 
ours  is  a  war  of  self-defense.  We  did  not  wish  to  fight 
Germany.  She  made  the  attack  upon  us ;  not  on  our  shores, 
but  on  our  ships,  our  lives,  our  rights,  our  future.  For  two 
years  and  more  we  held  to  a  neutrality  that  made  us  apolo- 
gists for  things  which  outraged  man's  common  sense  of  fair 
play  and  humanity.  At  each  new  offense — the  invasion  of 
Belgium,  the  killing  of  civilian  Belgians^  the  attacks  on 
Scarborough  and  other  defenseless  towns,  the  laying  of 
mines  in  neutral  waters,  the  fencing  off  of  the  seas — and  on 
and  on  through  the  months  we  said :  ^'This  is  war — archaic, 
uncivilized  war,  but  war!  All  rules  have  been  thrown 
away,  all  nobility;  man  has  come  down  to  the  primitive 
brute.  And  while  we  cannot  justify,  we  will  not  inter- 
vene.    It  is  not  our  war." 

Then  why  are  we  in?  Because  we  could  not  keep  out. 
The  invasion  of  Belgium,  which  opened  the  war,  led  to  the 
invasion  of  the  United  States  by  slow,  steady,  logical  steps. 
Our  sympathies  evolved  into  a  conviction  of  self-interest. 
Our  love  of  fair  play  ripened  into  alarm  at  our  own 
peril.   .    .    . 

And  so  we  came  into  this  war  for  ourselves.  It  is  a  war 
to  save  America — to  preserve  self-respect,  to  justify  our 
right  to  live  as  we  have  lived,  not  as  some  one  else  wishes 
us  to  live.  In  the  name  of  freedom  we  challenge  with  ships 
and  men,  money,  and  an  undaunted  spirit,  that  word  "Ver- 
boten"  which  Germany  has  written  upon  the  sea  and  upon 
the  land.  For  America  is  not  the  name  of  so  much  terri- 
tory.    It  is  a  living  spirit,  born  in  travail,  grown  in  the 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  297 

iiiiiniiiiiiii iriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiii iiuiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirriiiiiiiiii i iiiiiiiiititiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiii 

rough  school  of  bitter  experience,  a  living  spirit  which  has 
purpose  and  pride  and  conscience — knows  why  it  wishes  to 
live  and  to  what  end,  knows  how  it  comes  to  be  respected 
of  the  world,  and  hopes  to  retain  that  respect  by  living  on 
with  the  light  of  Lincoln's  love  of  man  as  its  Old  and  New 
Testament.  It  is  more  precious  that  this  America  should 
live  than  that  we  Americans  should  live.  And  this  Amer- 
ica, as  we  now  see,  has  been  challenged  from  the  first  of 
this  war  by  the  strong  arm  of  a  power  that  has  no  sympathy 
with  our  purpose  and  will  not  hesitate  to  destroy  us  if  the 
law  that  we  respect,  and  the  rights  that  are  to  us  sacred, 
or  the  spirit  that  we  have,  stand  across  her  set  will  to  make 
this  world  bow  before  her  policies,  backed  by  her  organized 
and  scientific  military  system.  The  world  of  Christ — a 
neglected  but  not  a  rejected  Christ — has  come  again  face 
to  face  with  the  world  of  Mahomet,  who  willed  to  win  by 
force. 

With  this  background  of  history  and  in  this  sense,  then, 
we  fight  Germany — 

Because  of  Belgium — invaded,  outraged,  enslaved,  im- 
poverished Belgium.  We  cannot  forget  Liege,  Louvain,  and 
Cardinal  Mercier.  Translated  into  terms  of  American  his- 
tory, these  names  stand  for  Bunker  Hill,  Lexington,  and 
Patrick  Henry. 

Because  of  France — invaded,  desecrated  France,  a  mil- 
lion of  whose  heroic  sons  have  died  to  save  the  land  of 
Lafayette.  Glorious,  golden  France,  the  preserver  of  the 
arts,  the  land  of  noble  spirit — the  first  to  follow  our  land 
into  republican  liberty. 

Because  of  England — from  whom  came  the  laws,  tradi- 
tions, standards  of  life,  and  inherent  love  of  liberty  which 


298  Builders  of  Democracy 

we  call  Anglo-Saxon  civilization.  We  defeated  her  once 
upon  the  land  and  once  upon  the  sea.  But  Australia,  New 
Zealand,  Africa,  and  Canada  are  free  because  of  what  we 
did.  And  they  are  with  us  in  the  fight  for  the  freedom 
of  the  seas. 

Because  of  Eussia — new  Eussia.  She  must  not  be  over- 
whelmed now.  Not  now,  surely,  when  she  is  just  born  into 
freedom.  Her  peasants  must  have  their  chance ;  they  must 
go  to  school  to  Washington,  to  Jefferson,  and  to  Lincoln 
until  they  know  their  way  about  in  this  new,  strange  world 
of  government  by  the  popular  will. 

Because  of  other  peoples,  with  their  rising  hope  that  the 
world  may  be  freed  from  government  by  the  soldier. 

We  are  fighting  Germany  because  she  sought  to  terror- 
ize us  and  then  to  fool  us.  We  could  not  believe  that  Ger- 
many would  do  what  she  said  she  would  do  upon  the  seas. 

We  still  hear  the  piteous  cries  of  children  coming  up  out 
of  the  sea  where  the  Lusitania  went  down,  and  Germany 
has  never  asked  forgiveness  of  the  world. 

We  saw  the  Sussex  sunk^  crowded  with  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  neutral  nations. 

We  saw  ship  after  ship  sent  to  the  bottom — ships  of 
mercy  bound  out  of  America  for  the  Belgium  starving; 
ships  carrying  the  Eed  Cross  and  laden  with  the  wounded 
of  all  nations ;  ships  carrying  food  and  clothing  to  friendly, 
harmless,  terrorized  peoples;  ships  flying  the  Stars  and 
.  Stripes — sent  to  the  bottom  hundreds  of  miles  from  shore, 
manned  by  American  seamen,  murdered  against  all  law, 
without  warning.   .    .    . 

We  are  fighting  Germany  because  in  this  war  feudalism 
is  making  its  last  stand  against  on-coming  democracy.    We 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  299 

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIItlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltlllll 

see  it  now.  This  is  a  war  against  an  old  spirit,  an  ancient, 
outworn  spirit.  It  is  a  war  against  feudalism — the  right  of 
the  castle  on  the  hill  to  rule  the  village  below.  It  is  a  war 
for  democracy — the  right  of  all  to  be  their  own  masters. 

America  speaks  for  the  world  in  fighting  Germany.  Mark 
on  a  map  those  countries  which  are  Germany's  allies  and 
you  will  mark  but  four,  running  from  the  Baltic  through 
Austria  and  Bulgaria  to  Turkey.  All  the  other  nations 
the  whole  globe  around  are  in  arms  against  her  or  are  un- 
able to  move.  There  is  deep  meaning  in  this.  We  fight 
with  the  world  for  an  honest  world  in  which  nations  keep 
their  word,  for  a  world  in  which  nations  do  not  live  by 
swagger  or  by  threat,  for  a  world  in  which  men  think  of 
the  ways  in  which  they  can  conquer  the  common  cruelties 
of  nature  instead  of  inventing  more  horrible  cruelties  to 
inflict  upon  the  spirit  and  body  of  man,  for  a  world  in 
which  the  ambition  or  the  philosophy  of  a  few  shall  not 
make  miserable  all  mankind,  for  a  world  in  which  the  man 
is  held  more  precious  than  the  machine,  the  system,  or  the 
state. 

AMERICA'S  PLEDGE 

WOODROW   WILSOX 

[A  Speech  Delivered  at  Baltimore,  April  6,  1918] 
Fellow-Citizens :  This  is  the  anniversary  of  our  accept- 
ance of  Germany's  challenge  to  fight  for  our  right  to  live 
and  be  free,  and  for  the  sacred  rights  of  freemen. every- 
where. The  nation  is  awake.  There  is  no  need  to  call  to 
it.  We  know  what  the  war  must  cost,  our  utmost  sacrifice, 
the  lives  of  our  fittest  men,  and,  if  need  be,  all  that  we 
possess. 


300  Builders  of  Democracy 

miniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiinuiiiiniiiiMniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

The  loan  we  are  met  to  discuss  is  one  of  the  least  parts 
of  what  we  are  called  upon  to  give  and  to  do,  though  in 
itself  imperative.  The  people  of  the  whole  country  are 
alive  to  the  necessity  of  it  and  are  ready  to  lend  to  the 
utmost,  even  where  it  involves  a  sharp  skimping  and  daily 
sacrifice  to  lend  out  of  meager  earnings.  They  will  look 
with  reprobation  and  contempt  upon  those  who  can  and 
will  not,  upon  those  who  demand  a  higher  rate  of  interest, 
upon  those  who  think  of  it  as  a  mere  commercial  trans- 
action. I  have  not  come,  therefore,  to  urge  the  loan.  I 
have  come  only  to  give  you,  if  I  can,  a  more  vivid  con- 
ception of  what  it  is  for. 

The  reasons  for  this  great  war,  the  reason  why  it  had 
to  come,  the  need  to  fight  it  through,  and  the  issues  that 
hang  upon  its  outcome,  are  more  clearly  disclosed  now  than 
ever  before.  It  is  easy  to  see  just  what  this  particular  loan 
means,  because  the  cause  we  are  fighting  for  stands  more 
sharply  revealed  than  at  any  previous  crisis  of  the  mo- 
mentous struggle.  The  man  who  knows  least  can  now 
see  plainly  how  the  cause  of  justice  stands,  and  what  the 
imperishable  thing  he  is  asked  to  invest  in  is.  Men  in  Amer- 
ica may  be  more  sure  than  they  ever  were  before  that  the 
cause  is  their  own,  and  that,  if  it  should  be  lost,  their  own 
great  nation's  place  and  mission  in  the  world  would  be  lost 
with  it. 

I  call  you  to  witness,  my  fellow-countrymen,  that  at  no 
stage  of  this  terrible  business  have  I  judged  the  purposes  of 
Germany  intemperately.  I  should  be  ashamed  in  the  pres- 
ence of  affairs  so  grave,  so  fraught  with  the  destinies  of 
mankind  throughout  all  the  world,  to  speak  with  trucu- 
lence,  to  use  the  weak  language  of  hatred  or  vindictive  pur- 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  301 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiitii iiiitiiiiiii 

pose.  We  must  judge  as  we  would  be  judged.  I  have 
sought  to  learn  the  objects  Germany  has  in  this  war  from 
the  mouths  of  her  own  spokesmen,  and  to  deal  as  frankly 
with  them  as  I  wished  them  to  deal  with  me.  I  have  laid 
bare  our  own  ideals,  our  own  purposes,  without  reserve  or 
doubtful  phrase,  and  have  asked  them  to  say  as  plainly 
what  it  is  that  they  seek. 

We  have  ourselves  proposed  no  injustice,  no  aggression. 
We  are  ready,  whenever  the  final  reckoning  is  made,  to  be 
just  to  the  German  people,  deal  fairly  with  the  German 
power,  as  with  all  others.  There  can  be  no  difference  be- 
tween peoples  in  the  final  judgment,  if  it  is  indeed  to  be 
a  righteous  judgment.  To  propose  anything  but  justice, 
even-handed  and  dispassionate  justice,  to  Germany  at  any 
time,  whatever  the  outcome  of  the  war,  would  be  to  re- 
nounce and  dishonor  our  own  cause,  for  we  ask  nothing  that 
we  are  not  willing  to  accord. 

It  has  been  with  this  thought  that  I  have  sought  to  learn 
from  those  who  spoke  for  Germany  whether  it  was  justice 
or  dominion  and  the  execution  of  their  own  will  upon  the 
other  nations  of  the  world  that  the  German  leaders  were 
seeking.  They  have  answered — answered  in  unmistakable 
terms.  They  have  avowed  that  it  was  not  justice,  but  do- 
minion and  the  unhindered  execution  of  their  own  will. 

The  avowal  has  not  come  from  Germany's  statesmen.  It 
has  come  from  her  military  leaders,  who  are  her  real  rulers. 
Her  statesmen  have  said  that  they  wished  peace,  and  were 
ready  to  discuss  its  terms  whenever  their  opponents  were 
willing  to  sit  down  at  the  conference  table  with  them.  Her 
present  Chancellor  has  said — in  indefinite  and  uncertain 
terms,  indeed,  and  in  phrases  that  often  seem  to  deny  their 


302  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMniiiiiniiiniiiiniiniiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMniinMiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iiiiiiiiiiiiiii:!iiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNMO 

own  meaning,  but  with  as  much  plainness  as  he  thought 
prudent — that  he  believed  that  peace  should  be  based  upon 
the  principles  which  we  had  declared  would  be  our  own 
in  the  final  settlement. 

At  Brest-Litovsk  her  civilian  delegates  spoke  in  similar 
terms;  professed  their  desire  to  conclude  a  fair  peace  and 
accord  to  the  peoples  with  whose  fortunes  they  were  deal- 
ing the  right  to  choose  their  own  allegiances.  But  action 
accompanied  and  followed  the  profession.  Their  military 
masters^  the  men  who  act  for  Germany  and  exhibit  her 
purpose  in  execution,  proclaimed  a  very  different  conclu- 
sion. We  cannot  mistake  what  they  have  done — in  Eussia, 
in  Finland,  in  the  Ukraine,  in  Roumania.  The  real  test  of 
their  justice  and  fair  play  has  come.  From  this  we  may 
Judge  the  rest. 

They  are  enjoying  in  Russia  a  cheap  triumph  in  which 
no  brave  or  gallant  nation  can  long  take  pride.  A  great 
people,  helpless  by  their  own  act,  lies  for  the  time  at  their 
mercy.  Their  fair  professions  are  forgotten.  They  no- 
where set  up  justice,  but  everywhere  impose  their  power 
and  exploit  everything  for  their  own  use  and  aggrandize- 
ment, and  the  peoples  of  conquered  provinces  are  invited 
to  be  free  under  itheir  dominion! 

Are  we  not  justified  in  believing  that  they  would  do  the 
same  things  at  their  western  front  if  they  were  not  there 
face  to  face  with  armies  whom  even  their  countless  divis- 
ions cannot  overcome  ?  If,  when  they  have  felt  their  check 
to  be  final,  they  should  propose  favorable  and  equitable 
terms  with  regard  to  Belgium  and  France  and  Italy,  could 
they  blame  us  if  we  concluded  that  they  did  so  only  to 
assure  themselves  of  a  free  hand  in  Russia  and  the  East  ? 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  303 

itlliillilllliiiiiiiilliiililliMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiliiiiiiiiiililliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii II 

Their  purpose  is,  undoubtedly,  to  make  all  the  Slavic 
people,  all  the  free  and  ambitious  nations  of  the  Baltic 
Peninsula,  all  the  lands  that  Turkey  has  dominated  and 
misruled,  subject  to  their  will  and  ambition,  and  build 
upon  that  dominion  an  empire  of  force  upon  which  they 
fancy  that  they  can  then  erect  an  empire  of  gain  and  com- 
mercial supremacy — an  empire  as  hostile  to  the  Americas 
as  to  the  Europe  which  it  will  over-awe — an  empire  which 
will  ultimately  master  Persia,  India,  and  the  peoples  of 
the  Far  East. 

In  such  a  program  our  ideals,  the  ideals  of  justice  and 
humanity  and  liberty,  the  principle  of  the  free  self-deter- 
mination of  nations,  upon  which  all  the  modern  world  in- 
sists, can  play  no  part.  They  are  rejected  for  the  ideals  of 
power,  for  the  principle  that  the  strong  must  rule  the 
weak,  that  trade  must  follow  the  flag,  whether  those  to 
whom  it  is  taken  yvelcome  it  or  not,  that  the  peoples  of  the 
world  are  to  be  made  subject  to  the  patronage  and  over- 
lordship  of  those  who  have  the  power  to  enforce  it. 

That  program  once  carried  out,  America  and  all  who 
care  or  dare  to  stand  with  her  must  arm  and  prepare  them- 
selves to  contest  the  mastery  of  the  world — a  mastery  in 
which  the  rights  of  common  men,  the  rights  of  women  and 
of  all  who  are  weak,  must  for  the  time  being  be  trodden 
underfoot  and  disregarded  and  the  old,  age-long  struggle 
for  freedom  and  right  begin  again  at  its  beginning.  Every- 
thing that  America  has  lived  for  and  loved  and  grown 
great  to  vindicate  and  bring  to  a  glorious  realization  will 
have  fallen  in  utter  ruin  and  the  gates  of  mercy  once  more 
pitilessly  shut  upon  mankind! 

The  thing  is  preposterous  and  impossible;  and  yet  is 


304  Builders  of  Democracy 

miiiiiiiiiiniiiiriiiMiiiiniiMniinnininnniiniiniiiiiniiiiiiiiiiuinniiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiriiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

not  that  what  the  whole  course  and  action  of  the  German 
armies  have  meant  wherever  they  have  moved?  I  do  not 
wish,  even  in  this  moment  of  utter  disillusionment,  to 
judge  harshly  or  unrighteously.  I  judge  only  what  the 
German  arms  have  accomplished  with  unpitying  thorough- 
ness throughout  every  fair  region  they  have  touched. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do?  For  myself,  I  am  ready, 
ready  still,  ready  even  now,  to  discuss  a  fair  and  just  and 
honest  peace  at  any  time  that  it  is  sincerely  purposed— a 
peace  in  which  the  strong  and  the  weak  shall  fare  alike. 
But  the  answer,  when  I  proposed  such  a  peace,  came  from 
the  German  commanders  in  Russia,  and  I  cannot  mistake 
the  meaning  of  the  answer. 

I  accept  the  challenge.  I  know  that  you  accept  it.  All 
the  world  shall  know  that  you  accept  it.  It  shall  appear  in 
the  utter  sacrifice  and  self-forgetfulness  with  which  we 
shall  give  all  that  we  love  and  all  that  we  have  to  redeem 
the  world  and  make  it  fit  for  free  men  like  ourselves  to 
live  in.  This  now  is  the  meaning  of  all  that  we  do.  Let 
everything  that  we  say,  my  fellow-countrymen,  everything 
that  we  henceforth  plan  and  accomplish,  ring  true  to  this 
response  till  the  majesty  and  might  of  our  concerted  power 
shall  fill  the  thought  and  utterly  defeat  the  force  of  those 
who  flout  and  misprize  what  we  honor  and  hold  dear. 

Germany  has  once  more  said  that  force,  and  force  alone, 
shall  decide  whether  justice  and  peace  shall. reign  in  the 
affairs  of  men,  whether  right  as  America  conceives  it  or 
dominion  as  she  conceives  it  shall  determine  the  destinies 
of  mankind.  There  is,  therefore,  but  one  response  possible 
from  us :  Force,  force  to  the  utmost,  force  without  stint 
or  limit,  the  righteous  and  triumphant  force  which  shall 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  305 

UIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIfllllinilllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllMIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 

make  right  tlie  law  of  the  world  and  cast  every  selfish 
dominion  down  in  the  dust. 

II.  BATTLES  AND  HEROES 

We  have  now  seen  what  spirit  animates  the  Allies,  how 
they  interpret  their  cause,  and  the  pledges  they  have  given 
to  overthrow  the  enemy  of  Freedom.  Now  we  are  to  see 
something  of  the  individual  soldier — his  bravery,  and  the 
victories  that  he  wins.  These  are  stories  of  men  who  have 
obeyed  the  command,  "Throw  Me  Away!"  All  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  story  of  the  French  boy,  -whose  arm  was 
so  crushed  in  battle  that  it  was  necessary  to  take  it  off.  At 
the  end  of  the  operation,  the  surgeon  said,  "It  is  too  bad 
that  you  had  to  lose  your  right  arm."  The  boy's  eyes 
flashed.    "I  didn't  lose  it,"  he  said ;  "I  gave  it — to  France !" 

THE  HELL-GATE  OF  SOISSONS 

HERBERT  KAUFMAN 

My  name  is  Darino,  the  poet.     You  have  heard?     Oui, 

Comedie  Franqaise. 
Perchance  it  has  happened,   mon  ami,  you  know  of  my 

unworthy  lays. 
Ah,  then  you  must  guess  how  my  fingers  are  itching  to 

talk  to  a  pen ; 
For  I  was  at  Soissons,  and  saw  it,  the  death  of  the  tweWe 

Englishmen. 

My  leg,  malheureusement,  I  left  it  behind  on  the  banks  of 

the  Aisne. 
Regret  ?    I  would  pay  with,  the  other  to  witness  their  valor 

again. 
A  trifle,  indeed,  I  assure  you,  to  give  for  the  honor  to  tell 
How  that  handful  of  British,  undaunted,  went  into  tht 

Gateway  of  Hell. 


306  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiniiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiMiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiriiiiiiiiiiirii 

Let  me  draw  you  a  plan  of  the  battle.   Here  we  French  and 

your  Engineers  stood; 
Over  there  a  detachment  of  German  sharpshooters  lay  hid 

in  a  wood. 
A  mitrailleuse  battery  planted  on  top  of  this  well  chosen 

ridge 
Held  the  road  for  the  Prussians  and  covered  the  direct 

approach  to  the  bridge. 

It  was  madness  to  dare  the  dense  murder  that  spewed  from 
those  ghastly  machines. 

(Only  those  who  haje  danced  to  its  music  can  know  what 
the  mitrailleuse  means.) 

But  the  bridge  on  the  Aisne  was  a  menace ;  our  safety  de- 
manded its  fall : 

"Engineers — volunteers  !"  In  a  body,  the  Royals  stood  out 
at  the  call. 

Death  at  best  was  the  fate  of  that  mission — to  their  glory 
not  one  was  dismayed. 

A  party  was  chosen — and  seven  survived  till  the  powder 
was  laid. 

And  they  died  with  their  fuses  unlighted.  Another  de- 
tachment !    Again 

A  sortie  is  made — all  too  vainly.  The  bridge  still  com- 
manded the 'Aisne. 

We  were  fighting  two  foes — Time  and  Prussia — the  mo- 
ments were  worth  more  than  troops. 

We  must  blow  up  the  bridge.  A  lone  soldier  darts  out  from 
the  Royals  and  swoops 

For  the  fuse!  Fate  seems  with  us.  We  cheer  him;  he 
answers — our  hopes  are  reborn ! 

A  ball  rips  his  visor— his  khaki  shows  red  where  another 
has  torn. 

Will  he  live— will  he  last— will  he  make?  Helas!  And  so 
near  to  the  goal ! 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  307 

(llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIIIIII 

A  second,  he  dies !    Then  a  third  one  !    A  fourth !    Still  the 

Germans  take  toll ! 
A  fifth — magnifique!     It  is  magic!     How  does  he  escape 

them?  He  may — 
Yes,  he  does!     See,  the  match  flares!     A  rifle  rings  out 

from  the  wood  and  says  "Xay !" 

Six,  seven,  eight,  nine  take  their  places,  six,  seven,  eight, 

nine  brave  their  hail ; 
Six,  seven,  eight,  nine — how  we  count  them !    But  the  sixth, 

seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  fail ! 
A  tenth!     Sacre  nom!     But  these  English  are  soldiers — 

they  know  how  to  try; 
(He  fumbles  the  place  where  his  jaw  was) — they  show,  too, 

how  heroes  can  die. 

Ten  we  count — ten  who  ventured,  unquailing — ten  there 

were — and  ten  are  no  more ! 
Yet   another   salutes   and  superbly   essays   where   the  ten 

failed  before. 
God  of  Battles,  look  down  and  protect  him!     Lord,  his 

heart  is  as  Thine — let  him  live ! 
But  the  mitrailleuse  splutters  and  stutters,  and  riddles  him 

into  a  sieve. 

Then  I  thought  of  my  sins,  and  sat  waiting  the  charge  that 

we  could  not  withstand. 
And  I  thought  of  my  beautiful  Paris,  and  gave  a  last  look 

at  the  land. 
At  France,  my  belle  Franct,  in  her  glory  of  blue  sky  and 

green  field  and  wood. 
Death  with  honor,  but  never  surrender.     And  to  die  with 

such  men — it  was  good. 

They  are  forming — the  bugles  are  blaring — they  will  cross 

in  a  moment,  and  then — 
When  out  of  the  line  of  the  Royals — (your  island,  mon  ami, 

breeds  men) 


808  Builders  of  Democracy 

itniniiiniiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiniiihininiMMiiiiiiiiiMnMniiiiniiiiNiMHMniniiniiiiiiiMiii'iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit 

I 

Burst  a  private,  a  tawny-haired  giant — it  was  hopeless,  but, 

del!  how  he  ran ! 
Bon  Dieu  please  remember  the  pattern,  and  make  many 

more  on  his  plan ! 

No  cheers  from  our  ranks,  and  the  Germans,  they  halted 
in  wonderment,  too; 

See,  he  reaches  the  bridge ;  ah  !  he  lights  it !  I  am  dream- 
ing, it  cannot  be  true. 

Screams  of  rage!  Fusillade!  They  have  killed  him!  Too 
late, -though ;  the  good  work  is  done. 

By  the  valor  of  twelve  English  martyrs,  the  Hell-Gate  of 
Soissons  is  won ! 

FILE  THREE 

PAYSON    S.    WILD 

["General  Pershing  stopped  in  his  walk,  turned  sharply,  and 
faced  File  Three." — London  Dispatch.] 

File  Three  stood  motionless  and, pale, 

Of  nameless  pedigree; 
One  of  a  hundred  on  detail — 
But  would  I  had  been  he ! 

In  years  a  youth,  but  worn  and  old. 

With  face  of  ivory; 
Upon  his  sleeve  two  strands  of  gold — 

Oh,  would  I  had  been  he! 

The  General  passed  down  the  line, 

And  walked  right  rapidly, 
But  saw  those  threads  and  knew  the  sign — 

Ah,  had  I  been  File  Three ! 

"Twice  wounded?  Tell  me  where  you  were," 

The  man  of  stars  asked  he. 
"Givenchy  and  Lavenze,  sir" — 

Oh3  where  was  /,  File  Three ! 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  809 

IIIHiHUHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIiniinillllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIMHIIIIIIIIIIHIMnilllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlim^^^ 

Then  crisply  quoth  the  General: 

"You  are  a  man,  File  Three." 
And  Tommy's  heart  held  carnival — 

God !    Would  I  had  been  he ! 

YOUR  LAD,  AND  MY  LAD 

RANDALL  PARRISH 

Down  toward  the  deep-blue  water,  marching  to  throb  of 
drum, 

From  city  street  and  country  lane  the  lines  of  khaki  come ; 

The  rumbling  guns,  the  sturdy  tread,  are  full  of  grim 
appeal. 

While  rays  of  western  sunshine  flash  back  from  burnished 
steel. 

With  eager  eyes  and  cheeks  aflame  the  serried  ranks  ad- 
vance ; 

And  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  are  on  their  way  to 
France.  ♦ 

A  sob  clings  choking  in  the  throat,  as  file  on  file  sweep  by, 

Between  those  cheering  multitudes,  to  where  the  great 
ships  lie; 

The  batteries  halt,  the  columns  wheel,  to  clear-toned  bugle- 
call. 

With  shoulders  squared  and  faces  front  they  stand  a  khaki 
wall. 

Tears  shine  on  every  watcher's  cheek,  love  speaks  in  every 
glance ; 

For  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  are  on  their  way  to 
France. 

Before  them,  through  a  mist  of  years,  in  soldier  buff  or 

blue. 
Brave  comrades  from  a  thousand  fields  watch  now  in  proud 

review ; 
The  same  old  Flag,  the  same  old  Faith — the  Freedom  of 

the  World— 


310  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiniiiiiiininiiiiMiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiriihMiiniiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiMiuiiiiitiiiiiiiiiii 

Spells  Duty  in  those  flapping  folds  above  long  ranks  un- 
furled. 

Strong  are  the  hearts  which  bear  along  Democracy's  ad- 
vance, 

As  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  go  on  their  way  to 
^    France. 

The  word  rings  out,  a  million  feet  tramp  forward  on  the 
road. 

Along  that  path  of  sacrifice  o'er  which  their  fathers  strode. 

With  eager  eyes  and  cheeks  aflame,  with  cheers  on  smiling 
lips,^ 

These  fighting  men  of  '17  move  onward  to  their  ships. 

Nor  even  love  may  hold  them  back,  or  halt  that  stern  ad- 
vance. 

As  your  dear  lad,  and  my  dear  lad,  go  on  their  way  to 
France. 

A  DISPATCH  BEARER 
From  the  Bulletin  of  the  Alliance  Franqaise 

It  was  when  the  battle  was  being  fought  at  Chateau- 
Thierry.  The  Germans  had  got  as  far  as  storming  the 
town  itself;  their  attack  was  breaking  against  the  Marne: 
the  blowing  up  of  the  bridge  had  stopped  them,  at  the 
moment  when  they  thought  themselves  masters  of  that  way 
of  access  toward  the  south.  They  were  seeking  for  other 
means  of  crossing  the  river,  incessantly  bringing  up  new 
forces.  Under  the  shells  the  houses  were  crashing  down, 
threatening  to  engulf  the  defenders  of  the  burning  city. 
At  intervals  the  scene  was  lit  up  by  the  crude  glare  of  the 
rockets  sent  up  by  the  assailants,  which  preserve  their  bril- 
liance for  nearly  two  minutes. 

in  the  "poste  de  commandement"  of  a  Colonel  there 
suddenly  appears  a  sort  of  phantom.     It  is  a  man,  abso- 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  311 

iiiiiiiiiMiiiMitiiiiiiniiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiMiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

lutely  naked,  holding  a  paper  between  his  teeth.  He  is 
soaked,  and  streaming  with  water. 

"Who  are  you  ?"  asks  the  Colonel. 

The  specter  makes  a  gesture  to  show  that  he  does  not 
want  to  touch  the  paper  with  his  wet  hands.  It  is  taken 
from  him,  and  the  contents  of  the  note  are  read. 

It  comes  from  a  major.  His  battalion  has  remained  in 
the  ruins  of  the  old  ramparts  overlooking  the  church  on 
the  north  side.  Surrounded  by  enemy  masses,  this  bat- 
talion has  been  holding  fast  for  twelve  hours.  The  major, 
determined  not  to  allow  himself  to  be  taken  prisoner, 
announces  that  he  is  about  to  attempt  to  join  the  French 
troops  on  the  opposite  shore,  and  requests  that  an  impro- 
vised foot-bridge  be  got  ready.  A  sortie,  in  circumstances 
such  as  those,  is  a  mad  undertaking,  perhaps.  But  so  much 
heroism  is  spent  each  day  that  this  determination  can  cause 
no  astonishment. 

The  naked  man,  who  has  brought  the  news  of  it,  swim- 
ming across  the  Marne  under  cross  fires,  is  a  colonial, 
belonging  to  the  small  surrounded  garrison.  He  volun- 
teered for  the  mission  which  he  has  just  accomplished. 

"What  is  your  name  ?"  asks  the  colonel. 

"Legars." 

"But  how  did  you  manage  to  get  here  ?" 

"Well,  sir,  I  hardly  know  how.  I  slipped  through  the 
hands  of  the  Boches — then,  on  the  edge  of  the  water,  I 
quickly  undressed — I  am  only  wondering  if  I  shall  find  my 
uniform  again." 

"Are  you  wounded?" 

"No — it  is  only  a  bullet  scratch.  You  see,  they  are  fall- 
ing pretty  thick !" 


312  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiinniuuiiiiiiiMiniiiiiniiiiiiMnMn:iMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiJiiiiiiiiiiii 

"Get  warm,  my  man.  I  have  no  coffee  to  offer  you,  but 
take  this  blanket." 

"No  time,  sir — I've  got  to  go  back  there,  you  see,  to  give 
your  answer  to  the  major.'' 

"You  are  going  back  ?" 

"They  are  waiting  for  me." 

The  colonel  writes  a  few  words  and  hands  them  to 
Legars. 

"Good  luck  go  with  you." 

"I  shall  do  my  best  to  make  it." 

The  colonial,  a  Breton,  is  about  to  disappear.  The  Colonel 
calls  him  back. 

"And  I  say,"  he  resumes,  shaking  the  man's  hand,  "it 
means  the  medaille  militaire  when  you  get  back." 

"Oh  !"  answers  Legars,  "why  ?" 

He  sets  off.  Toward  the  end  of  the  night,  the  battalion, 
by  sheer  daring  and  determination,  succeeded  in  cutting 
a  way  through  the  Germans,  and  under  the  protection  of 
our  machine-gunners,  and  of  the  American  machine- 
gunners,  it  crossed  the  Marne  on  improvised  rafts.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  river,  it  resumed  the  struggle.   ■ 

THE  BELOVED  CAPTAIN* 

DONALD   HANKEY 

He  came  in  the  early  days,  when  we  were  still  at  recruit 

drills  under  the  hot  September  sun.     Tall,  erect,  smiling : 

so  we  first  saw  him,  and  so  he  remained  to  the  end.     At 

the  start  he  knew  as  little  of  soldiering  as  we  did.    He  used 

to  watch  us  being  drilled  by  the  sergeant;  but  his  manner 

of  watching  was   peculiarly  his   own.     He   never  looked 

bored.     He  was  learning  just  as  much  as  we  were,  in  fact 

*Taken  by  permission  of  the  E.  P.  Button  Company  from 
A  Student  in  Arms. 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  313 

iiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiitiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMittiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

more.  He  was  learning  his  job,  and  from  the  first  he 
saw  that  his  job  was  more  than  to  give  the  correct  orders. 
His  job  was  to  lead  us.  So  he  watched,  and  noted  many 
things,  and  never  found  the  time  hang  heavy  on  his  hands. 
He  watched  our  evolutions,  so  as  to  learn  the  coi*rect  or- 
ders; he  watched  for  the  right  manner  of  command,  the 
manner  which  secured  the  most  prompt  response  to  an 
order;  and  he  watched  every  one  of  us  for  our  individual 
characteristics.  We  were  his  men.  Already  he  took  an 
almost  paternal  interest  in  us.  He  noted  the  men  who 
tried  hard  but  were  naturally  slow  and  awkward.  He 
distinguished  them  from  those  who  were  inattentive  and 
bored.  He  marked  down  the  keen  and  efficient  amongst 
us.  Most  of  all  he  studied  those  who  were  subject  to 
moods,  who  were  sulky  one  day  and  willing  the  next. 
These  were  the  ones  who  were  to  turn  the  scale.  If  only 
lie  could  get  these  on  his  side,  the  battle  would  be  won. 

For  a  few  days  he  just  watched.  Then  he  started  to 
work.  He  picked  out  some  of  the  most  awkward  ones,  and, 
accompanied  by  a  corporal,  marched  them  away  by  them- 
selves. Ingenuously  he  explained  that  he  did  not  know 
much  himself ;  but  he  thought  that  they  might  get  on  bet- 
ter if  they  drilled  by  themselves  a  bit,  and  that  if  he 
helped  them,  and  they  helped  him,  they  would  soon  learn. 
His  confidence  was  infectious.  He  looked  at  them,  and 
they  looked  at  him,  and  the  men  pulled  themselves  together 
and  determined  to  do  their  best.  Their  best  surprised 
themselves.  His  patience  was  inexhaustible.  His  sim- 
plicity could  not  fail  to  be  understood.  His  keenness  and 
optimism  carried  all  with  them.  Very  soon  the  awkward 
squad  found   themselves   awkward  no   longer;   and   soon 


314  Builders  of  Democracy 

(iiiniiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiuiinniiiiiiiiniiiiiniiiiniiiiiiiuuiiiiiuiiiiiNiiiiuiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiMiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiniiiiiiMiiii 

after  that  they  ceased  to  be  a  squad,  and  went  back  to  the 
platoon. 

Then  he  started  to  drill  the  platoon,  with  the  sergeant 
standing  by  to  point  out  his  mistakes.  Of  course  he  made 
mistakes,  and  when  that  happened  he  never  minded  ad- 
mitting it.  He  would  explain  what  mistakes  he  had  made, 
and  try  again.  The  result  was  that  we  began  to  take  al- 
most as  much  interest  and  pride  in  his  progress  as  he  did 
in  ours.  We  were  his  men,  and  he  was  our  leader.  We 
felt  that  he  was  a  credit  to  us,  and  we  resolved  to  be  a 
credit  to  him.  There  was  a  bond  of  mutual  confidence 
and  affection  between  us,  which  grew  stronger  and  stronger 
as  the  months  passed.  He  had  a  smile  for  almost  every- 
one; but  we  thought  that  he  had  a  different  smile  for  us. 
We  looked  for  it,  and  were  never  disappointed.  On  pa- 
rade, as  long  as  we  were  trying,  his  smile  encouraged  us. 
Off  parade,  if  we  passed  him  and  saluted,  his  eyes  looked 
straight  into  our  own,  and  his  smile  greeted  us.  It  was  a 
wonderful  thing,  that  smile  of  his.  It  was  something 
worth  living  for,  and  worth  working  for.  It  bucked  one 
up  when  one  was  bored  or  tired.  It  seemed  to  make  one 
look  at  things  from  a  different  point  of  view,  a  finer  point 
of  view,  his  point  of  view.  There  was  nothing  feeble  or 
weak  about  it.  It  was  not  monotonous  like  the  smile  of 
"Sunny  Jim."  It  meant  something.  It  meant  that  we 
were  his  men,  and  that  he  was  proud  of  us,  and  sure  that 
we  were  going  to  do  jolly  well — better  than  any  of  the 
other  platoons.  And  it  made  us  determine  that  we  would. 
When  we  failed  him,  when  he  was  disappointed  in  us,  he 
did  not  smile.  He  did  not  rage  or  curse.  He  just  looked 
disappointed,  and  that  made  us  feel  far  more  savage  with 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  315 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

ourselves  than  any  amount  of  swearing  would  have  done. 
He  made  us  feel  that  were  not  playing  the  game  by  him. 
It  was  not  what  he  said.  He  was  never  very  good  at  talk- 
ing. It  was  just  how  he  looked.  And-  his  look  of  dis- 
pleasure and  disappointment  was  a  thing  that  we  would 
do  anything  to  avoid.  The  fact  was  that  he  had  won  his 
way  into  our  affections.  We  loved  him.  And  there  isn't 
anything  stronger  than  love,  when  all's  said  and  done. 

He  was  good  to  look  on.  He  was  big  and  tall,  and  held 
himself  upright.  His  eyes  looked  his  own  height.  He 
moved  with  the  grace  of  an  athlete.  His  skin  was  tanned 
by  a  wholesome  outdoor  life,  and  his  eyes  were  clear  and 
wide  open.  Physically  he  was  a  prince  among  men.  We 
used  to  notice,  as  we  marched  along  the  road  and  passed 
other  officers,  that  they  always  looked  pleased  to  see  him. 
They  greeted  him  with  a  cordiality  which  was  reserved  for 
him.  Even  the  general  seemed  to  have  singled  him  out, 
and  cast  an  eye  of  special  approval  upon  him.  Somehow, 
gentle  though  he  was,  he  was  never  familiar.  He  had  a 
kind  of  innate  nobility  which  marked  him  out  as  above 
us.  He  was  not  democratic.  He  was  rather  the  justification 
for  aristocracy.  We  all  knew  instinctively  that  he  was  our 
superior — a  man  of  finer  temper  than  ourselves,  a  "toff"  in 
his  own  right.  I  suppose  that  that  was  why  he  could  be 
so  humble  without  loss  of  dignity.  For  he  was  humble, 
too,  if  that  is  the  right  word,  and  I  think  it  is.  No  trouble 
of  curs  was  too  small  for  him  to  attend  to.  When  we 
started  route  marches,  for  instance,  and  our  feet  were 
blistered  and  sore,  as  they  often  were  at  first,  you  would 
have  thought  that  they  were  his  own  feet  from  the  trouble 
•he  took.     Of  course  after  the  march  there  was  always  an 


316  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiMiiiuiiniiininiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiii^ 

inspection  of  feet.  That  is  the  routine.  But  with 
him  it  was  no  mere  routine.  He  came  into  our  rooms,  and 
if  anyone  had  a  sore  foot  he  would  kneel  down  on  the 
floor  and  look  at  it  as  carefully  as  if  he  had  been  a  doctor. 
Then  he  would  prescribe,  and  the  remedies  were  ready  at 
hand,  being  borne  by  the  sergeant.  If  a  blister  had  to  be 
lanced  he  would  very  likely  lance  it  himself  there  and 
then,  so  as  to  make  sure  that  it  was  done  with  a  clean 
needle  and  that  no  dirt  was  allowed  to  get  in.  There  was 
no  affectation  about  this,  no  striving  after  effect.  It  was 
simply  that  he  felt  that  our  feet  were  pretty  important,  and 
that  he  knew  that  we  were  pretty  careless.  So  he  thought 
it  best  at  the  start  to  see  to  the  matter  himself.  Never- 
theless, there  was  in  our  eyes  something  almost  religious 
about  this  care  for  our  feet.  It  seemed  to  have' a  touch  of 
the  Christ  about  it,  and  we  loved  and  honored  him  the 
more. 

We  knew  that  we  should  lose  him.  For  one  thing,  we 
knew  that  he  would  be  promoted.  It  was  our  great  hope 
that  some  day  he  would  command  the  company.  Also  we 
knew  that  he  would  be  killed.  He  was  so  amazingly  unself- 
conscicus.  For  that  reason  we  knew  that  he  would  be 
absolutely  fearless.  He  would  be  so  keen  on  the  Job  in 
hand,  and  so  anxious  for  his  men,  that  he  would  forget 
about  his  own  danger.  So  it  proved.  He  was  a  captain 
when  we  went  out  to  the  front.  Whenever  there  was  a 
tiresome  job  to  be  done,  he  was  there  in  charge.  If  ever 
there  were  a  moment  of  danger,  he  was  on  the  spot.  If 
there  were  any  particular  part  of  the  line  where  the  shells 
were  falling  faster  or  the  bombs  dropping  more  thickly 
than  in  other  parts,  he  was  in  it.     It  was  not  that  he  was 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  317 

iiiiiiiiniiiiiiiinMiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiuiiiiiMniiiniiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

conceited  and  imagined  himself  indispensable.  It  was  just 
that  he  was  so  keen  that  the  men  should  do  their  best,  and 
act  worthily  of  the  regiment.  He  knew  that  fellows  hated 
turning  out  at  night  for  fatigue  when  they  were  in  a  "rest 
camp."  He  knew  how  tiresome  the  long  march  there  and 
back  and  the  digging  in  the  dark  for  an  unknown  purpose 
were.  He  knew  that  fellows  would  be  inclined  to  grouse 
and  shirk,  so  he  thought  that  it  was  up  to  him  to  go  and 
show  them  that  he  thought  it  was  a  job  worth  doing.  And 
the  fact  that  he  was  there  put  a  new  complexion  on  the 
matter  altogether.  No  one  would  shirk  if  he  were  there. 
No  one  would  grumble  so  much,  either.  What  was  good 
enough  for  him  was  good  enough  for  us.  If  it  were  not 
too  much  trouble  for  him  to  turn  out,  it  was  not  too  much 
trouble  for  us.  He  knew,  too,  how  trying  to  the  nerves 
it  is  to  sit  in  a  trench  and  be  shelled.  He  knew  what  a 
temptation  there  is  to  move  a  bit  farther  down  the  trench 
and  herd  together  in  a  bunch  at  what  seems  the  safest  end. 
He  knew,  too,  the  folly  of  it,  and  that  it  was  not  the  thing 
to  do — not  done  in  the  best  regiments.  So  he  went  along 
to  see  that  it  did  not  happen,  to  see  that  the  men  stuck  to 
their  posts,  and  conquered  their  nerves.  And  as  soon  as 
we  saw  him,  we  forgot  our  own  anxiety.  It  was :  "Move 
a  bit  farther  down,  sir.  We  are  all  right  here;  but  don't 
you  go  exposing  of  yourself."  We  didn't  matter.  We 
knew  it  then.  We  were  just  the  rank  and  file,  bound  to 
take  risks.  The  company  would  get  along  all  right  without 
us.  But  the  captain,  how  was  the  company  to  get  on 
without  him?  To  see  him  was  to  catch  his  point  of  view, 
to  forget  our  personal  anxieties,  and  only  to  think  of  the 
company  and  the  regiment,  and  honor. 


318  Builders  of  Democracy 

oiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimimiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

There  was  not  one  of  us  but  would  gladly  have  died  for 
him.  We  longed  for  the  chance  to  show  him  that.  We 
weren't  heroes.  We  never  dreamed  about  the  V.  C.  But 
to  save  the  captain  we  would  have  earned  it  ten  times  over, 
and  never  have  cared  a  button  whether  we  got  it  or  not. 
We  never  got  the  chance,  worse  luck.  It  was  all  the  other 
way.  We  were  holding  some  trenches  which  were  about 
as  unhealthy  as  trenches  could  be.  The  Boches  were  only 
a  few  yards  away,  and  were  well  supplied  with  trench 
mortars.  We  hadn't  got  any  at  that  time.  Bombs  and  air 
torpedoes  were  dropping  round  us  all  day.  Of  course  the 
captain  was  there.  It  seemed  as  if  he  could  not  keep  away. 
A  torpedo  fell  into  the  trench,  and  buried  some  of  our 
chaps.  The  fellows  next  to  them  ran  to  dig  them  out. 
Of  course  he  was  one  of  the  first.  Then  came  another  tor- 
pedo in  the  same  place.    That  was  the  end. 

But  he  lives.  Somehow  he  lives.  And  we  who  knew 
him  do  not  forget.  We  feel  his  eyes  on  us.  We  still  work 
for  that  wonderful  smile  of  his.  There  are  not  many  of 
the  old  lot  left  now ;  but  I  think  that  those  who  went  West 
have  seen  him.  When  they  got  to  the  other  side  I  think 
they  were  met.  Someone  said:  ^^Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant."  And  as  they  knelt  before  that  gracious 
pierced  Figure,  I  reckon  they  saw  near  hy  the  captain's 
smile.  Anyway  in  that  faith  let  me  die,  if  death  should 
come  my  way ;  and  so,  I  think,  shall  I  die  content. 

"DOING  THEIR  BIT" 

CONINGSBY  DAWSON 

God  as  we  see  Him!  And  do  we  see  Him?  I  think 
so,  but  not  always  consciously.    He  moves  among  us  in  the 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  319 

iiniiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiMiiiiiiiHiiniiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiMiiiniMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir 

forms  of  our  brother  men.  We  see  him  most  evidently 
when  danger  is  most  threatening  and  courage  is  at  its 
highest.  We  don't  often  recognize  Him  out  loud.  Our 
chaps  don't  assert  that  they're  His  fellow-campaigners. 
They're  too  humble-minded  and  inarticulate  for  that. 
They're  where  they  are  because  they  want  to  do  their  "bit" 
— their  duty.  A  carefully  disguised  instinct  of  honor 
brought  them  there.  "Doing  their  bit"  in  Bible  lan- 
guage means,  laying  down  their  lives  for  their  friends. 
After  all  they're  not  so  far  from  Nazareth. 

"Doing  their  hit!"  That  covers  everything.  Here's  an 
example  of  how  God  walks  among  us.  In  one  of  our  at- 
tacks on  the  Somme  all  the  observers  up  forward  were  un- 
certain as  to  what  had  happened.  We  didn't  know  whether 
our  infantry  had  captured  their  objective,  failed,  or  gone 
beyond  it.  The  battlefield,  as  far  as  eye  could  reach,  was  a 
bath  of  mud.  It  is  extremely  easy  in  the  excitement  of  an 
offensive,  when  all  landmarks  are  blotted  out,  for  our 
storming  parties  to  lose  their  direction.  If  this  happens,  a 
number  of  dangers  may  result.  A  battalion  may  find  itself 
"up  in  the  air,"  which  means  that  it  has  failed  to  connect 
with  the  battalions  on  its  right  and  left;  its  flanks  are 
then  exposed  to  the  enemy.  It  may  advance  too  far,  and 
start  digging  itself  in  at  a  point  where  it  was  previously 
arranged  that  our  artillery  should  place  their  protective 
wall  of  fire.  We,  being  up  forward  as  artillery  observers, 
are  the  eyes  of  the  army.  It  is  our  business  to  watch  for 
such  contingencies,  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  situation  as 
it  progresses  and  to  send  our  information  back  as  quickly 
as  possible.  We  were  peering  through  our  glasses  from 
our  point  of  vantage  when,  far  away  in  the  thickest  of 


320  Builders  of  Democracy 

IIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIMIMIUIIIUIIIIIIIIIinillllMlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillll^ 

the  battle-smoke,  we  saw  a  white  flag  wagging,  sending 
back  messages.  The  flag-wagging  was  repeated  desper- 
ately; it  was  evident  that  no  one  had  replied,  and  probable 
that  no  one  had  picked  up  the  messages.  A  signaller  who 
was  with  US  read  the  language  for  us.  A  company  of  infan- 
try had  advanced  too  far ;  they  were  most  of  them  wounded, 
very  many  of  them  dead,  and  they  were  in  danger  of  being 
surrounded.  They  asked  for  our  artillery  to  place  a  curtain 
of  fire  in  front  of  them^  and  for  reinforcements  to  be 
sent  up. 

We  at  once  'phoned  the  orders  through  to  our  artillery 
and  notified  the  infantry  headquarters  of  the  division  that 
was  holding  that  front.  But  it  was  necessary  to  let  those 
chaps  know  that  we  were  aware  of  their  predicament. 
They'd  hang  on  if  they  knew  that;  otherwise — 

Without  orders  our  signaller  was  getting  his  flags  ready. 
If  he  hopped  out  of  the  trench  on  to  the  parapet,  he  didn't 
stand  a  fifty-fifty  chance.  The  Hun  was  familiar  with 
our  observation  station  and  strafed  it  with  persistent  regu- 
larity. 

The  signaller  turned  to  the  senior  officer  present,  "What 
will  I  send  them,  sir?" 

"Tell  them  their  messages  have  been  received  and  that 
help  is  coming." 

Out  the  chap  scrambled,  a  flag  in  either  hand — he  was 
nothing  but  a  boy.  He  ran  crouching  like  a  rabbit  to  a 
hump  of  mud  where  his  figure  would  show  up  against  the 
sky.  His  flags  commenced  wagging,  "Messages  received. 
Help  coming."  They  didn't  see  him  at  first.  He  had  to  re- 
peat the  words.  We  watched  him  breathlessly.  We  knew 
what  would  happen ;  at  last  it  happened.    A  Hun  observer 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  321 

iiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiinMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiniiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiuniiiiiiu 

had  spotted  him  and  flashed  the  target  back  to  his  guns.  All 
about  him  the  mud  commenced  to  leap  and  bubble.  He 
went  on  signalling  the  good  word  to  those  stranded  men 
up  front,  "Messages  received.  Help  coming."  At  last 
they'd  seen  him.  They  were  signalling,  "0.  K."  It  was 
at  that  moment  that  a  whizz-bang  lifted  him  off  his  feet 
and  landed  him  all  of  a  huddle.  His  ''bit!"  It  was  what 
he'd  volunteered  to  do,  when  he  came  from  Canada.  The 
signalled  "0.  K."  in  the  battle  smoke  was  like  a  testimony 
to  his  character. 

DISCIPLINE 

CONINGSBY  DAWSON 

When  men  die  for  something  worth  while  death  loses  all 
its  terror.  It's  petering  out  in  bed  from  sickness  or  old 
age  that's  so  horrifying.  Many  a  man,  whose  cowardice  is 
at  loggerheads  with  his  sense  of  duty,  comes  to  the  Front 
as  a  non-combatant;  he  compromises  with  his  conscience 
and  takes  a  bomb-proof  job  in  some  service  whose  place  is 
well  behind  the  lines.  He  doesn't  stop  there  long,  if  he's 
a  decent  sort.  Having  learnt  more  than  ever  he  guessed 
before  about  the  brutal  things  that  shell-fire  can  do  to  you, 
he  transfers  into  a  fighting  unit.  Why?  Because  danger 
doesn't  appal ;  it  allures.  It  holds  a  challenge.  It  stings 
one's  pride.  It  urges  one  to  seek  out  ascending  scales  of 
risk,  just  to  prove  to  himself  that  he  isn't  flabby.  The 
safe  job  is  the  only  job  for  which  there's  no  competition 
in  fighting  units.  You  have  to  persuade  men  to  be  grooms, 
or  cooks,  or  batmen.  If  you're  seeking  volunteers  for  a 
chance  at  annihilation,  you  have  to  cast  lots  to  avoid  the 
offense  of  rejecting.    All  of  this  is  inexplicable  to  civilians. 


322  Builders  of  Democracy 

I've  heard  them  call  the  men  at  the  Front  "spiritual  gen- 
iuses"— which  sounds  splendid,  but  means  nothing. 

If  civilian  philosophers  fail  to  explain  us,  we  can  explain 
them.  In  their  world  they  are  the  center  of  their  universe. 
They  look  inward,  instead  of  outward.  The  sun  rises  and 
sets  to  minister  to  their  particular  happiness.  If  they 
should  die,  the  stars  would  vanish.  We  understand;  a 
few  months  ago  we,  too,  were  like  that.  What  makes  us 
reckless  of  death  is  our  intense  gratitude  that  we  have 
altered.  We  want  to  prove  to  ourselves  in  excess  how 
utterly  we  are  changed  from  what  we  were.  In  his  secret 
heart  the  egotist  is  a  self-despiser.  Can  you  imagine  what 
a  difference  it  works  in  a  man  after  years  of  self -contempt, 
at  least  for  one  brief  moment  to  approve  of  himself  ?  Ever 
since  we  can  remember,  we  were  chained  to  the  prison- 
house  of  our  bodies ;  we  lived  to  feed  our  bodies,  to  clothe 
our  bodies,  to  preserve  our  bodies,  to  minister  to  their  pas- 
sions. Now  we  know  that  our  bodies  are  merely  flimsy 
shells,  in  which  our  souls  are  paramount.  We  can  fling 
them  aside  any  minute;  they  become  ignoble  the  moment 
the  soul  has  departed.  We  have  proof.  Often  at  zero  hour 
we  have  seen  whole  populations  of  cities  go  over  the  top 
and  vanish,  leaving  behind  them  their  bloody  rags.  We 
should  go  mad  if  we  did  not  believe  in  immortality.  We 
know  that  the  physical  is  not  the  essential  part.  How 
better  can  a  man  shake  off  his  flesh  than  at  the  hour  when 
his  spirit  is  most  shining?  The  exact  day  when  he  dies 
does  not  matter — tomorrow  or  fifty  years  hence.  The  vital 
concern  is  not  when,  but  how. 

The  civilian  philosopher  considers  what  we've  lost.  He 
forgets  that  it  could  never  have  been  ours  for  long.     In 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  3^3 

iiiiiniitiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

many  cases  it  was  misused  and  scarcely  worth  having  while 
it  lasted.  Some  of  us  were  too  weak  to  use  it  well.  We 
might  use  it  better  now.  We  turn  from  such  thoughts 
and  reckon  up  our  gains.  On  the  debit  side  we  place  our- 
selves as  we  were.  We  probably  caught  a  train  every  morn- 
ing— the  same  train,  we  went  to  a  business  where  we  sat 
at  a  desk.  Neither  the  business  nor  the  desk  ever  altered. 
We  received  the  same  strafing  from  the  same  employer; 
or,  if  we  were  the  employer,  we  administered  the  same 
strafing.  We  only  did  these  things  that  we  might  eat 
bread;  our  dreams  were  all  selfish — of  more  clothes,  more 
respect,  more  food,  bigger  houses.  The  least  part  of  the 
day  we  devoted  to  the  people  and  the  things  we  really 
cared  for.  And  the  people  we  loved — we  weren't  always 
nice  to  them.  On  the  credit  side  we  place  ourselves  as  we 
are — doing  a  man's  job,  doing  it  for  some  one  else,  and 
unafraid  to  meet  God. 

Before  the  war  the  word  "ideals"  had  grown  out-of-date 
and  priggish — we  had  substituted  for  it  the  more  robust 
word  "ambitions."  Today  ideals  have  come  back  to  their 
place  in  our  vocabulary.  We  have  forgotten  that  we  ever 
had  ambitions,  but  at  this  moment  men  are  drowning  for 
ideals  in  the  mud  of  Flanders. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  true;  it  isn't  natural  to  be  brave. 
How,  then,  have  multitudes  of  men  acquired  this  sudden 
knack  of  courage  ?  They  have  been  educated  by  the  great- 
ness of  the  occasion;  when  big  sacrifices  have  been  de- 
manded, men  have  never  been  found  lacking.  And  they 
have  acquired  it  through  discipline  and  training. 

When  you  have  subjected  yourself  to  discipline,  you 
cease  to  think  of  yourself;  you  are  not  you,  but  a  part  of 


324  Builders  of  Democracy 

IIIIIIIUIIIIMIIIIIIIIinillllUnMIMIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIinillUIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIUMIIIIIinillllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH^ 

a  company  of  men.  If  you  don't  do  your  duty,  you  throw 
the  whole  machine  out.  You  soon  learn  the  hard  lesson 
that  every  man's  life  and  every  man's  service  belong  to 
other  people.  Of  this  the  organization  of  an  army  is  a 
vivid  illustration.  Take  the  infantry,  for  instance.  They 
can't  fight  by  themselves;  they're  dependent  on  the  sup- 
port of  the  artillery.  The  artillery,  in  their  turn,  would 
be  terribly  crippled,  were  it  not  for  the  gallantry  of  the 
air  service.  If  the  infantry  collapse,  the  guns  have  to 
go  back;  if  the  infantry  advance,  the  guns  have  to  be 
pulled  forward.  This  close  interdependence  of  service  on 
service,  division  on  division,  battalion  on  battery,  follows 
right  down  through  the  army  till  it  reaches  the  individual, 
so  that  each  man  feels  that  the  day  will  be  lost  if  he  fails. 
His  imagination  becomes  intrigued  by  the  immensity  of 
the  stakes  for  which  he  plays.  Any  physical  calamity 
which  may  happen  to  himself  becomes  trifling  when  com- 
pared with  the  disgrace  he  would  bring  upon  his  regiment 
if  he  were  not  courageous. 

A  few  months  ago  I  was  handing  over  a  battery-position 
in  a  fairly  warm  place.  The  major,  who  came  up  to  take 
over  from  me,  brought  with  him  a  subaltern  and  just 
enough  men  to  run  the  guns.  Within  half  an  hour  of  their 
arrival,  a  stray  shell  came  over  and  caught  the  subaltern 
and  five  of  the  gun  detachment.  It  was  plain  at  once  that 
the  subaltern  was  dying — his  name  must  have  been  written 
on  the  shell,  as  we  say  in  France.  We  got  a  stretcher  and 
made  all  haste  to  rush  him  out  to  a  dressing  station.  Just 
as  he  was  leaving,  he  asked  to  speak  with  his  major.  "I'm 
so  sorry,  sir;  I  didn't  mean  to  get  wounded,"  he  whis- 
Dered.     The  last  word  he  sent  back  from  the  dressing 


Soldiers  of  Freedom  325 

tiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiimiMiiitiiiiiiiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii riiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik 

station  where  he  died,  was,  "Tell  the  major,  I  didn't  mean 
to  do  it."  That's  discipline.  He  didn't  think  of  himself; 
all  he  thought  of  was  that  his  major  would  be  left  short 
handed.      • 

TO  OVERCOME  THE  WORLD 

CONINGSBY  DAWSON 

Often  at  the  Front  I  have  thought  of  Christ's  explana- 
tion of  his  own  unassailable  peace — an  explanation  given 
to  his  disciples  at  the  Last  Supper,  immediately  before  the 
walk  to  Gethsemane:  "Be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  over- 
come the  world."  Overcoming  the  world,  as  I  understand 
it,  is  overcoming  self.  Fear,  in  its  final  analysis,  is  noth- 
ing but  selfishness.  A  man  who  is  afraid  in  an  attack, 
isn't  thinking  of  his  pals  and  how  quickly  terror  spreads; 
he  isn't  thinking  of  the  glory  which  will  accrue  to  his 
regiment  or  division  if  the  attack  is  a  success;  he  isn't 
thinking  of  what  he  can  do  to  contribute  to  that  success; 
he  isn't  thinking  of  the  splendor  of  forcing  his  spirit  to 
triumph  over  weariness  and  nerves  and  the  abominations 
that  the  Huns  are  chucking  at  him.  He's  thinking  merely 
of  how  he  can  save  his  worthless  skin  and  conduct  his  en- 
tirely unimportant  body  to  a  place  where  there  aren't  any 
shells. 

In  London  as  I  saw  the  work-a-day,  unconscious  nobility 
of  the  maimed  and  wounded,  the  words,  "I  have  overcome 
the  world,"  took  an  added  depth.  All  these  men  have  an 
"I-have-overcome-the-world"  look  in  their  faces.  It's  com- 
paratively easy  for  a  soldier  with  traditions  and  ideals  at 
his  back  to  face  death  calmly;  to  be  calm  in  the  face  of 
life,  as  these  chaps  are,  takes  a  graver  courage. 


326  Builders  of  Democracy 

iiiiuiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiniiiiiiiiiniiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiinuuiMiiiniiHiiMiiiinMiiiiiiiiiiiiiininiinumiiin^ 

III.   ON  TO  VICTOEY 

And  now  we  have  reached  the  end  of  our  book.  Amer- 
ican boys  are  being  transformed  into  Soldiers  of  Freedom. 
As  yon  think  of  this,  yonr  thoughts  will  revert  to  that  sec- 
tion on  the  C^ll  to  the  Colors,  which  yon  will  appreciate  the 
more  now  that  yon  see  what  the  Call  to  the  Colors  involves. 

On  one  side  of  the  sword  Excalibur  were  the  words 
"Keep  Me"  and  on  the  other,  "Throw  Me  Away !"  Just 
such  an  ideal  is  voiced  in  President  Wilson's  benediction 
to  the  American  Soldier. 

SOLDIERS  OF  FREEDOM- 
To  the  Soldiers  of  the  National  Army: 

You  are  undertaking  a  great  duty.  The  heart  of  the 
whole  country  is  with  you.  Everything  that  you  do  will  be 
watched  with  the  deepest  interest  and  with  the  deepest 
solicitude  not  only  by  those  who  are  near  and  dear  to  you, 
but  by  the  whole  nation  besides.  For  this  great  war  draws 
us  all  together,  makes  us  all  comrades  and  brothers,  as  all 
true  Americans  felt  themselves  to  be  when  we  first  made 
good  our  national  independence.  The  eyes  of  all  the  world 
will  be  upon  you,  because  you  are  in  some  special  sense 
the  soldiers  of  freedom. 

Let  it  be  your  pride,  therefore,  to  show  all  men  every- 
where not  only  what  good  soldiers  you  are,  but  also  what 
good  men  you  are,  keeping  yourselves  fit  and  straight  in 
everything  and  pure  and  clean  through  and  through.  Let 
us  set  for  ourselves  a  standard  so  high  that  it  will  be  a 
glory  to  live  up  to  it  and  then  let  us  live  up  to  it  and  add 
a  new  laurel  to  the  crown  of  America. 

My  aifectionate  confidence  goes  with  you  in  every  battle 
and  every  test.    God  keep  and  guide  you ! 

WooDRow  Wilson. 


GLOSSARY 


a  society  ordered  otherwise,  a  different 

kind  of  government. 
abbey  precincts,  the  neighborhood  of  a 

building  occupied  by  monks. 
abeam,    opposite    the    middle    of    the 

ship's  side. 
aboon,  above. 

abortive,  coming  to  nothing;  fruitless, 
absolute  ruler,  one  free  from  restriction 

or  limit. 
absolved,  set  free. 

accommodation,  a  peaceful  agreement, 
accountable,  likely  to  be  called  upon 

to  answer  or  to  give  an  account, 
actuated,  prompted;  moved  to  action, 
address  and  stratagem,  skillful  man- 
agement and  plans  to  outwit, 
adjudged,  granted  legally, 
aggrandizement,  exalting  one's  self. 
Alfred,  a  famous  king  of  early  Britain, 
alien,  foreign. 
allegiance,  the  loyalty  of  a  subject  to 

his  government, 
all-pervasive,  diffusing;  all  permeating. 
All-wielder,  God. 
ambuscade,  an  ambush  or  place  where 

troops  lie  concealed, 
amity,  friendly  relations, 
amnesty,  an  act  of  a  sovereign  granting 

a  general  pardon  for  past  offenses, 
animated  bust,  a  bust  that  is  life-like, 
annals,  historical  records, 
annul,  to  nullify;  to  abolish, 
antique  majesty,  a  stately  bearing  or 
dignity  inspiring  awe  because  of  age. 
Apollyon,  the  angel  of  the  bottomless 

pit  in  "Pilgrim's  Progress." 
apostolic,  disciple-like, 
apparition,  a  phantom;  a  ghost, 
approbation,  approval;  commendation, 
aristocracy,  rule  by  a  privileged  class. 
armada,     armed     ships,     The     Great 

Armada,  the  Spanish  Armada, 
assuage,  to  lessen. 
at  large,  without  restraint, 
athwart,  across;  from  side  to  side, 
auspices,  guidance. 

authority  forgets  a  dying  king,  etc,  when 
a  king  has  lost  the  power  of  his  eye 
that  compels  obedience,  his  authority 
is  gone,  and  subjects  do  not  obey  his 
commands. 
avowal,  declaration;  acknowledgment. 
awe  and  ezultatibn,  wonder  and 
triumph. 

baldric,  belt;  the  zodiac, 
baleful-minded,  full  of  deadly  influence. 


bar  of  history,  the  future  historians  who 

will  judge  the  events  of  the  present. 

barb,  a  Barbary  horse  noted  for  speed 

and  endurance. 
barons,  noblemen. 

battalion,  a  considerable  division  of  an 
army  operating  as  a  unit;  in  U.  S. 
army,  four  companies  acting  together, 
beat  to  quarters,  gave  the  signal  for  the 
men  to  take  their  positions  ready  for 
battle. 
bedlam,  a  lunatic,  so-called  from  an 
insane  hospital  in  London,  originally 
Bethlehem. 
Beelzebub,  one  of  the  princes  of  hell, 
beguile,  impose  on;  deceive, 
behest,  command. 

beneficent,  doing  good;  actively  kind, 
benignity,  graciousness;  kindness. 
Berserk,  in  Norse  folklore,  a  wild  war- 

_  rior  or  champion  of  a  heathen  age. 
bickering  brattle,  sudden  scamper, 
bigoted,  narrow-minded ;  intolerant. 
birkie,  young  fellow, 
black-stoled,  dressed  in  a  long,  loose, 

black  garment. 
blanched,  pale, 
blenched  not  a  step,  turned  aside  not  a 

step. 
blinkm'  bonilie,  shining  brightly, 
boarding  pike,  an  iron-pointed  staff, 
bodes,  foreshadows;  promises. 
boggy,  marshy. 

Bon  Dieu,  Gracious  Father  in  Heaven, 
boon,  a  favor;  a  gift. 
Bourbon,  a  member  of  the  noble  French 

family  of  Bourbon, 
brasses,  brass  plates,  used  as  memorials 

to  the  dead, 
brawl,  a  row;  a  broil. 
Brest-Litovsk,  the  Russian  city  where 
the  Russo-German  treaty  was  signed, 
brig,  a  two-masted,  square-rigged  vessel. 
Britannia,  the  poetic  name  for  Great 

Britain  and  Ireland, 
broadside,  the  side  of  a  ship  above  the 

water  line,  from  bow  to  quarter, 
buckler,  a  shield  worn  on  the  arm. 
bulwarks,  the  side  of  a  ship  above  the 

upper  deck. 
burden,  carrj'ing  capacity, 
burgesses,  free  citizens  of  a  district  or 

an  old  English  town, 
burghers,  freemen. 

by  these  presents,  a  legal  phrase  mean- 
ing present  letters  or  instrument,  as  a 
deed,  agreement,  or  other  legal  docu- 
ment. 


327 


328 


Builders  of  Democracy 


cable's  length,  the  length  of  a  ship's 

cable,  about  600  feet. 
Canaan,      a      region      corresponding 

roughly  to  modern  Palestine. 
canister,  a  kind  of  shot  for  close-range 

artillery  fire. 
Cardinal  Mercier,  the  highest  church 

official  of  Belgium, 
careering,  causing  to  career  as  a  horse ; 

going  over, 
carriage,  bearing;  demeanor, 
casque,  armor  for  the  head;  a  helmet, 
category,  class;  list. 
catholic,  broad ;  liberal. 
Cavaliers,    adherents   of   the    king   in 

England  in  the  time  of  Charles  I. 
celestials,  inhabitants  of  heaven. 
certes,  certainly;  in  truth. 
chance,  perchance, 
chancel,  that  part  of  the  church  where 

the  altar  stands. 
chaplets,  wreaths  for  the  head, 
charters,  instruments  in  writing  from 

the    ruling    power    of    a  ,state    or 

country,  granting  rights. 
chivalry,  gallantry;  knighthood. 
ciel,  heaven. 

circumstanced,  situated;  conditioned. 
civil  body  politic,  an  organized  society. 
civil  rights,  the  rights  of  the  citizen. 
cloister,  a  monastery ;  a  convent, 
clouted  knee,  patched, 
clutch,  a  firm  grasp. 
cockpit,  in  old  sailing  warships,  quarters 

for  junior  officers;  occupied  by  the 

wounded  in  engagements. 
codes,  rules  and  regulations. 
Com6die  Frangaise,|the  poet  was  prob- 
ably connected  with  this  well  known 

Paris  theater. 
commemorated,  celebrated, 
communing,  conversing  intimately. 
compass,  Umits;  range. 
competence,  means  sufficient  for  the 

necessaries  and  conveniences  of  life. 
competency,  abiUty. 
comports,  agrees. 
compulsion,      subjection      to      force; 

coercion, 
conceit,  fanciful  notion, 
concert,  planning  together. 
concluded,  brought  about, 
concrete  plans,  real,  actual  plan, 
concourse,  a  gathering;  an  assemblage, 
confederates,  men  in  league  with  one 

another. 
confirmation,  establishment. 
confounded,  confused;  perplexed, 
conjecture,  surmise;  inference, 
consecrated,    dedicated     or     declared 

sacred. 
constellation,  a  group  of  fixed  stars. 
constituted  authority,  the  rule  of  the 

government  in  power. 


constrains,  compels;  forces. 

constructive,  given  to  building  up. 

consummation,  summing  up;  comple- 
tion. 

contemporaries,  those  living  or  acting 
at  the  same  time. 

contentation,  satisfaction. 

coof,  fool. 

copious,  abundant;  plentiful. 

coral,  red,  like  coral,  from  the  bare  and 
bleeding  feet  of  the  soldiers. 

corps  of  observation,  soldiers  who 
gather  information  about  the  enemy. 

corselet,  armor  for  the  body. 

cottar,  a  peasant. 

Cotton  Mather,  an  American  preacher 
of  early  New  England  days. 

Court  of  Justice,  a  tribunal  for  passing 
sentence  upon  wrong  doers. 

covert,  concealment;  a  covering. 

crusade,  one  of  the  military  expeditions 
made  between  1096  and  1270  by 
Christian  powers  to  recover  the  Holy 
Land  from  the  Mohammedans. 

cuisse  (kwis) ,  armor  for  the  thighs. 

culminate,  to  reach  the  highest  point. 

dais-throne,  a  raised  platform  in  a  hall. 

decrepitude,  infirmity;  feebleness. 

delegated  power,  authority  to  act  for 
another  or  others. 

deluge,  to  flood;  to  overflow. 

delusive  phantom,  deceptive  illusion. 

demi-paradise,  half  paradise. 

democracy,  a  government  in  which  the 
supreme  power  is  retained  by  the 
people,  as  in  a  republic. 

deploying,  spreading  out;  expanding. 

deputed,  appointed;  assigned. 

descried,  caught  sight  of. 

desecrated,  violated;  profaned. 

detractions,  slanders. 

devolved,  descended;  handed  down. 

Devon,  a  county  in  England. 

diminution  of  front,  reduction  or  short- 
ening of  the  front  line. 

disaffection,  hostiUty;  discontent. 

discredited,  disbelieved. 

discretion,  prudence;  self-control. 

dismemberment,  separation  of  members. 

dispassionate,  calmly. 

dispossessed,  deprived  of  property. 

disproportion,  want  of  proportion. 

distorted,  perverted. 

diverse,  different;  unlike. 

dole,  give  grudgingly. 

dominion,  supremacy;  control. 

Don,  a  Spanish  nobleman  or  gentleman. 

don,  to  put  on;  to  dress  in. 

dotard,  a  foolish  old  person. 

double-reefed,  having  two  reefs  or 
folds  to  reduce  the  size  of  the  sail. 

doughty-minded,  strong-willed. 

drab,  dull. 


Glossary 


329 


drawbridge,  a  bridge,  part  of  which  is 
made  to  be  raised  or  moved  aside. 


furtherance,  carrying  out. 

fusillade,  a  general  discharge  of  firearms. 


effrontery,  impudence. 

ego,  self-importance. 

egotist,  one  given  to  self  praise. 

election,  choice. 

emanation,  a  flowing  out  from. 

emancipation,  freedom;  liberation. 

embodiment,  concrete  form. 

emulate,  strive  to  equal  or  excel. 

encompass,  surround. 

endued,  endowed. 

endu'th,  endureth. 

enervating,  enfeebling. 

enterprises,  undertakings. 

Epaminondas,  a  famous  Theban  general. 

epitaph,  an  inscription  in  memory  of  a 

person. 
epoch,  event, 
equal  state,  a  state  in  which  all  men 

have  equal  rights. 
equitable,  just;  right;  fair, 
eradicated,  rooted  out;  destroyed, 
essence,  fundamental  element, 
evinces  a  design,  shows  clearly  a  plan, 
evolutions,  a  series  of  movements  as 

in  the  drill  of  troops, 
exotic,  a  plant  that  is  not  native, 
exposition,  a  setting  forth  for  purposes 

of  explanation, 
expostulation,  remonstrance;  protest, 
extenuate,  to  excuse. 
exultation,  see  awe  and  exultation. 

fabric  of  social  order,  a  form  of  govern- 
ment. 

fair  professions,  promises. 

faith's  shrine,  a  place  where  a  people 
worship  according  to  their  belief. 

familiar,  companion. 

fanned,  stirred  up  to  activity. 

fastnesses,  .strongholds;  fortresses. 

fathom,  measure  Dy  sounding. 

fealty,  loyalty;  homage. 

fell,  cruel;  a  hill  or  mountain. 

fen-mound,  a  mound  in  a  marshy  region. 

fetters,  chains;  shackles. 

feudal,  a  common  form  of  government 
in  the  Middle  Ages. 

filled  away,  brought  the  ship  around. 

Final  Doom,  destiny;  the  final  judg- 
ment at  the  end  of  the  world. 

foray,  a  raid. 

foul  of  each  other,  in  each  other's  way. 

fraught,  freighted;  burdened. 

fretted,  adorned  with  interlacing  lines 
or  figures. 

friars,  brothers  of  a  rehgious  order. 

frigate,  a  war  vessel  of  secondary  size, 
propelled  by  sails. 

fronting  moonward,  looking  eastward  to 
the  Orient. 


galleon,  a  Spanish    war   vessel  of  the 

15th  century,  propelled  by  sails. 
Gardens  of  Hesperides,  in  mythology, 

the  Garden  of  the  Gplden  Apples, 

supposed  to  be  located  in  Africa, 
garish,  showy;  gay;  gaudy. 
gear,  armor;  power  to  act  properly. 
Geats,  Goths;  Beowulf's  tribe, 
genial,  warm;  life-giving, 
gentry,  those  between  the  yeomanry 

and  the  nobility. 
glade,  a  grassy,  open  space, 
glebe,  ground;  sod. 
golden  age,  a  period  of  greatest  growth 

or  prosperity. 
Gordon,  Lord  Byron,  a  famous  English 

poet, 
gowd,  gold, 
grape,  grape  shot;  a  cluster  of  small 

iron  balls  to  be  shot  from  a  cannon. 
greaves,  armor  for  the  calves  of  the  legs, 
gree,  prize, 
groat,  an  English  silver  coin  worth  eight 

cents,  no  longer  in  use. 
grouse,  to  hide  away, 
guinea's  stamp,  the  mark  of  the  coin, 

not  its  real  value. 
guises,  cloaks;  shapes. 
gyves,  shackles;  chains. 

had  struck,  lowered  the  flag  in  token 
of  surrender. 

haft,  the  hilt  of  a  sword. 

Happy  Isles,  the  isles  of  the  blest. 

hardly  beset,  afflicted;  troubled. 

harmonies  of  law,  agreement  in  ideals. 

hauled  upon  the  wind,  shifted  the  course 
toward  the  wind. 

heath-stepper,  any  animal  of  the  moor- 
land. 

helm,  helmet. 

h61as,  alas! 

henchman,  a  trusted  follower. 

heraldry,  ancestry;  hi^h  descent. 

Hercules,  Gates  of,  Pillars  of,  two  pro- 
montaries  on  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar, 
supposed  to  have  been  placed  there 
by  Hercules. 

best,  command. 

High-Church,  a  branch  of  the  Church 
of  England,  that  emphasizes  cere- 
monials and  symbols. 

high-poised,  steady;  great  and  true. 

high  resolution,  noble  decision. 

hind,  a  peasant. 

history  ...  its  processes,  the  things  that 
influence,  make,  or  determine  history. 

hoddin-gray,  a  coarse  gray  cloth. 

homely,  plain;  simple. 

homespun  breasts,  rustic  people. 


^^0  Builders  of  Democracy 

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humanities,  the   ancient   classics; 

branches  of  polite  learning. 
Hyades,  a  cluster  of  stars  thought  by  the 
ancients  to  indicate  the  coming  of 
rain  when  they  rose  with  the  sun. 
ideals,  aims;  purposes, 
ignominy,  disgrace;  dishonor, 
illusions,  unreal  images. 
impeached,  called  to  account  for  some 

crime  or  official  misconduct. 
impel,  to  incite;  to  urge, 
imperative,  absolutely  necessary. 
imperial,  belonging  to  supreme  author- 
ity; kingly. 
impious,  irreverent;  wicked, 
improvised,  made  suddenly;   offhand, 
impute,  charge;  ascribe. 
in  league  with,  in  aUiance  with. 
incarnation  of  evil,  a  person  exempUfy- 

ing  the  spirit  of  evil. 
incensed,  angered;  aroused. 
incident,  belonging  to. 
inclement,  severe ;  rigorous, 
mcredible,    too    extraordinary    to    be 

believed;  surpassing  belief. 
incumbent,  resting  as  a  duty. 
inestimable,  priceless;  precious, 
inevitable,  unavoidable, 
inexplicable,    incapable    of    being    ex- 
plained. 
infection,   contamination;    that    which 

taints  or  corrupts, 
ingenuous,  innocently  frank;  artless. 
ingle,  fire;  fireplace. 
inglorious,  shameful;  disgraceful, 
ingots,  nuggets;  blocks  or  bars. 
inherent,  native;  inborn, 
initiative,  right  or  power  to  introduce  a 

new  course  of  action, 
innative,  inborn. 

Inns   of   Court,   the   four   societies   of 

"students  and  practitioners  of  the 

law  of  England"  which  admit  persons 

to  the  practice  of  law. 

Inquisition,  a  Spanish  tribunal  for  the 

punishment  of  heretics. 
insidious,  deceitful;  treacherous, 
instituted,  set  up;  organized, 
intangible,  not  easily  touched;  vague, 
intemperately,  excessively. 
interposition,  intercession. 
interpret,  to  explain  the  meaning  of. 
into  the  Presence,  before  the  Deity, 
intrigue,  plotting;  secret  conspiracy. 
mured,  accustomed;  hardened, 
inviolate,  unbroken ;  unharmed, 
isolation,  separation  from  others, 
issue  of  victory  or  death,  result;  conse- 
quences. 

Jeanne  d'Arc,  the  French  heroine,  who 
led  an  army  and  won  a  great  victory 
over  the  EngUsh  at  Orleans,  hence 
called  "The  Maid  of  Orleans." 


jocund,  cheery;  merry. 
jousted,  engaged  in  combat, 
junk,  a  ship  of  China  or  Japan. 

kernes,  a  body  of  foot  soldiers  of  Ire- 
land or  Scotland. 

knight  errant,  an  adventurer. 

kultur,  a  German  theory  of  social  and 
mdustrial  Ufe. 

laith  to  tin,  loath  to  run. 

languishing,  losing  strength. 

larboard,  the  left-hand  side  of  a  ship 
to  one  on  board  facing  toward  the 
bow;  port  is  commonly  used  now 
instead  of  larboard. 

latest-left,  last  remaining. 

lazaretto,  a  hospital. 

lees,  dregs. 

leeward,  opposed  to  windward. 

let  them  in  their  journey,  hinder,  etc. 

lief,  beloved. 

lineaments,  features. 

lour,  look  dark  and  threatening. 

low  countries,  Netherlands  and  Belgium. 

luffed  athwart,  headed  across. 

madding,  making  mad. 
Magna    Charta,    the    Great    Charter, 
which    the    EngHsh    barons    forced 
King  John  to  sign  at  Runnymede. 
magnanimously,  nobly. 
magnifique,  magnificent;  splendid. 
Mahomet,  Mohammed,  the  founder  of 

the  Mohammedan  religion, 
malheiu-eusement,  unfortunately. 
Mammon,  the  god  of  riches. 
maimer  born,  born  to  follow  or  obey  a 

certain  practice  or  custom, 
mantling  land,  land  and  sea  covered 

with  the  blue  of  heaven, 
march-stalkers,  trangressors;  poachers, 
mareschal,  marshal. 
marge,  margin;  edge, 
marquis,  a  title  of  nobiUty  in  Europe, 
marshalled,  arranged  in  a  certain  order, 
maskers,  people  in  disguise. 
matchlock,  an  old  form  of  gun. 
maunna  fa',  may  not  claim. 
medaill6  militaire,    a    military  medal 

given  for  special  bravery. 
menace,  that  which  threatens  evil, 
mercenary,  hired ;  England  hired  22,000 
Hessians    to    fight    for    her    in    the 
American  Revolution. 
mere,  sea  or  lake, 
mete,  measure. 
meteor,  bright  and  flashing, 
mien,  manner;  bearing, 
militant,  fighting;  combating, 
minions,  willing  servants. 
minstrels,  wandering  entertainers. 
miscreants,  unscrupulous  villains, 
misprize,  undervalue;  scorn. 


Glossary 


331 


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mitrailleuse,  machine-gun. 
mizzenmast,  the  aftermost  mast  of  a 

three-masted  vessel. 
mock  the  wind,  to  defy  the  wind, 
moment,  consequence;  importance, 
mon  ami,  my  friend, 
moors,  waste  land,  often  marshy, 
moping,  spiritless. 
morass,  a  marsh;  wet  ground. 
Muse,  one  of  the  nine  goddesses  that 

preside  over  song  and  poetry, 
musqueteers,     soldiers     armed     with 

muskets. 
mutinous,  in  a  state  of  mutiny. 
myrrh,  one  of  the  perfumes  brought  to 

Christ  by  the  Three  Wise  Men. 

negative,  denial  or  refusal. 
Nelson,  a  famous  English  admiral, 
nominal,  in  name  onlj'. 

obligation,  duty. 

o£fensive  war,  making  attack;  opposed 
to  defensive  war. 

offices  of  tenderness,  acta  of  kindness. 

Old  Noll,  Oliver  Cromwell,  con- 
temptuously so  called  by  the  Cava- 
liers. 

ominous,  forshadowing  evil. 

onset,  assault;  attack. 

Oui,  yes. 

outlandish,  from  the  outlands;  strange. 

overplied,  overworked  of  mind. 

owned  the  English  interest,  favored  the 
English  side. 

pandemonium,  tumult;  wild  uproar, 
parable,  a  short  narrative  of  a  possible 

event  in  life  or  nature,  from  which  a 

moral  is  drawn, 
paramoimt,  having  higher  rank;  chief. 
parchment,  the  skin  of  an  animal,  as  a 

lamb  or  goat,  prepared  for  writing, 
parish,  district. 
parliamentary  system,  government  by 

the  people  through  representatives, 
partisans,  blind  followers  of  party. 
patent,  a  document  conferring  a  privi- 
lege, 
patent,  evident ;  manifest. 
pattle,  paddle  for  cleaning  the  plow. 
Paul's,  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London. 
pawn,  pledge. 
Peal  of  Destiny,  fate;  that  to  which  one 

is  predetermined, 
peasants,  tillers  of  the  soil  of  lowest 

rank. 
pecuniary,  relating  to  money, 
pedant,  a  person  with  book  learning 

who   lacks   the   judgment   to   make 

proper  use  of  his  knowledge, 
peers,    in    early    England,    noblemen; 

equals. 


peons,  common  laborers;  especially 
applied  to  laborers  on  large  estates 
in  Mexico,  Central  America,  and 
South  America. 

permeating,  penetrating. 

perpetuate,  keep  alive;    cause  to  last. 

phrased,  told  in  words. 
,  picturesque,     suggesting     a     picture; 
graphic. 

Piedmontese,  natives  of  Piedmont, 
Italy. 

pillory,  a  framework  for  publicly  pun- 
ishing offenders,  which  had  holes 
through  which  the  offender's  head 
and  hands  were  put. 

pinnaces,  light  sailing  vessels  used  as 
tenders  for  warships. 

pittance,  a  small  amount  of  money. 

Pleiades,  a  cluster  of  seven  stars. 

political  equality,  having  equal  rights 
in  matters  of  government. 

polity,  form  of  government. 

ponderous  states,  massive;  weighty. 

portcullis,  an  iron  gate  to  a  fortress  or 
castle,  hung  over  the  entrance,  to  be 
let  down  to  prevent  entrance. 

portentous,  foreboding  evil;  fore- 
shadowing; ominous. 

portray,  to  describe  in  words;  to  picture. 

poste  de  commandment,  army  officers' 
temporary  headquarters. 

pound  of  flesh,  an  expression,  referring 
to  the  story  of  Shylock,  in  Shake- 
speare's Merchant  of  Venice,  mean- 
ing severe  terms  of  settlement, 

precincts,  see  neighborhood. 

precipitous,  steep. 

pre-eminent,  surpassing  others. 

preferment,  preference;  state  of  being 
chosen. 

preferments,  offices  of  honor  or  profit. 

pregnant  with  celestial  fire,  filled  with 
heavenly  spirit  or  fervor. 

prelacy,  church  government. 

preposterous  conceptions,  absurd  or 
ridiculous  notions. 

presage,  foretell ;  point  out;  forebode. 

prestige,  influence  or  power  derived 
from  pa.st  successes. 

primacy,  first  in  rank. 

Primate,  a  bishop  of  first  rank;  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  is  Primate 
of  all  England. 

Primer,  a  book  of  church  service,  con- 
taining prayers,  psalms,  and  other 
forms  of  devotion. 

Prince  of  Princes,  Jesus  Christ. 

privateers,  armed  private  vessels 
bearing  the  commission  of  the 
sovereign  power  to  cruise  against 
commerce  or  enemy  war  vessels. 

projects,  imdertakings;  plans. 


332 


Builders  of  Democracy 


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promiscuously,  without  discrimination; 
not  restricted  to  an  individual  or 
particular  group  or  groups  of  persons. 

propaganda,  plans  for  spreading  a  doc- 
trine. 

propitious,  favorable;  promising. 

propriety,  fitness;  suitableness. 

prostrates  principalities,  overthrows 
powers. 

provoke,  arouse;  call  forth. 

purple,  the  color  of  rank  or  authority. 

quailed,  gave  way;  lost  heart. 

quarter-deck,  that  part  of  the  upper 
deck  abaft  the  mainmast,  used  as  a 
promenade  for  the  officers  and  some- 
times the  cabin  passengers. 

quells,  beats  down;  calms;  subdues. 

quit,  acquit;  conduct. 

qui  vive,  who  goes  there?  a  challenge. 

rabble,  a  mob. 

rack,  a  crash ;  a  shock. 

rage,  enthusiasm. 

ransom   redemption  or  liberation. 

ratified,  approved ;  made  valid. 

reach,  a  level  stretch. 

recked,  heeded. 

recreant,  coward. 

redress,  to  set  right. 

regenerate  it,  establish  it  on  a  better 

basis. 
remanded,  sent  back, 
reminiscence,  a  statement  of  what  is 

remembered. 
representative     government,     govern- 
ment by  the  people  through  chosen 

representatives. 
repression,  restraint;  act  of  subduing. 
reprobation,  censure ;  severe  disapproval . 
reverberations,  echoes. 
Rogers,  John,  an  English  Protestant 

clergyman  burned  as  a  heretic,  the 

first  martyr  of  Mary's  reign. 
royalist  activities,  operations  conducted 

by    those    supporting    the    British 

government. 
Royals,  a  special  detachment  of  EngUsh 

engineers. 
rude,  simple-living;  crude, 
rustic  moralist,  simple  countryman  who 

practices  moral  duties. 

sacre  nom,  by  Jove! 

sacredness,  reverence. 

samite,  heavy  silk  cloth. 

sanctuary,  a  church,  temple,  or  other 
consecrated  building. 

sauterelle,  grasshopper. 

Saxon  kind,  like  the  Saxons,  willing  to 
fight. 

scathe,  injure;  harm. 

sceptered,  royal;  invested  with  sov- 
ereign authority. 


schooner,  a  small  vessel  with  two  sails. 
Scotia's  realm,  poetic  name  for  Scot- 
land; "Land  of  Scots." 
Scott,    Sir   Walter,   a   famous   Scotch 
novelist. 

scroll,  a  roll. 

seat  of  Mars,  the  place  where  the  God 
of  War  rules. 

sedition,  excitement  or  discontent 
against  the  government;  conduct 
which  tends  to  treason,  but  which 
lacks  an  overt  act  to  make  it  treason. 

seduced,  misled. 

self-determination,  determining  for 
themselves  the  kind  of  government 
the  people  of  a  country  prefer. 

senile  imprudence,  disregard  of  con- 
sequences. 

sensible,  aware;  conscious. 

sensible  curse,  a  curse  that  was  felt. 

sepulcher,  burying  place;  tomb. 

sequel,  that  which  follows. 

sequestered,  secluded. 

seris,  servants;  farm  laborers  who  are 
sold  with  the  farm. 

setting  their  fires,  encouraging  sedi- 
tion and  disloyalty. 

shackles,  influences  against  freedom 
and  self-government. 

Shelley,  a  famous  English  poet. 

shepherd  of  mankind,  a  guardian  of 
the  human  race. 

shire,  a  small  division  of  territory  in 
England  corresponding  to  a  county. 

shows  his  teeth,  is  angry;  billowy. 

shrouds,  lateral,  supporting  ropes  lead- 
ing from  the  masthead. 

Sidney,  an  English  author  and  general. 

significance,  meaning. 

sinews,  things  which  supply  strength. 

sinister,  evil ;  corrupt. 

siren,  a  sea  nymph  that  by  her  singing 
lui-ed  mariners  to  destruction. 

Slavic,  those  who  speak  the  language  of 
the  Slavs. 

smite,  give  a  blow. 

Smithfield  fire,  refers  to  a  place  in 
London,  where,  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Mary,  heretics  were  burned. 

snare,  a  noose;  a  trap. 

social  principle,  the  principle  of  free 
cooperation  among  equals  as  opposed 
to  autocratic  rule  and  serfdom. 

society,  individuals  united  by  some 
common  interest  and  having  some 
form  of  organization. 

Soissons,  a  city  on  the  Aisne  River, 
France,  along  which  was  much  severe 
fighting  in  the  early  part  of  the  war. 

solidarity  of  race,  making  race  a  basis 
of  forming  separate  governments. 

Solon,  an  Athenian  lawgiver. 

solution,  satisfactory  settlement. 

sophistries,  deceptions;  trickeries. 


Glossary 


333 


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sorceress,  a  female  magician. 

sounding  furrows,  waves  in  shallow 
water  the  depth  of  which  can  be 
measured  by  the  sounding  line. 

spiritual  exaltation,  spirtual  advance- 
ment. 

spiritual  unity,  oneness  of  ideals. 

squadron,  vessels  composing  the  fleet. 

squire,  in  England,  a  title  of  dignity. 

St.  Bartholomew,  refers  to  the  massacre 
of  the  Huguenots  which  began  in 
Paris  on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day, 
Aug.  24.  1572. 

St.  Michael,  the  leader  of  the  hosts  of 
angels,  the  angel  of  the  sword. 

starboard,  opposed  to  port;  that  side 
of  a  ship  on  the  right  hand  of  a  person 
who  stands  on  board  facing  the  bow. 

still,  always. 

stocks,  pillories. 

storied  urn,  urn  inscribed  with  a  story. 

straitly,  tightly. 

stratagem,  see  address. 

stubborn  right  abide,  await  my  right. 

subaltern,  subordinate. 

subjugation,  state  of  being  conquered 
by  force. 

subscribed,  agrees;  assents. 

subtlest,  most  delicate. 

succor,  aid;  help. 

succors,  aids;  hel^jers. 

sum  of  love,  growing  spirit  of  kindness. 

supernal,  celestial;  heavenly. 

supinely,  heedless;  thoughtless. 

supple-tempered,  not  obstinate. 

swashbuckler,  a  braggart. 

symbolize,  made  to  represent. 

ta£frail,  the  rail  around  a  ship's  stern. 

temporal,  temporary. 

tenant,  one  who  has  temporary  occupa- 
tion of  lands,  the  title  to  which  De- 
longs  to  another;  a  renter. 

tenor,  general  course. 

thanes,  bodyguards;  attendants. 

thorn,  hawthorn  tree. 

thralldom,  bondage. 

thumb-screw,  an  old  instrument  of 
torture. 

Time's  burst  of  dawn,  the  coming  into 
view  of  a  new  world. 

"tofif,"  an  aristocrat. 

token,  evidence ;  proof-. 

tradition,  custom  that  has  prevailed 
from  year  to  year. 

Trafalgar,  the  greatest  British  naval 
victory  during  the  wars  of  Napoleon, 
off  Cape  Trafalgar,  October  21,  1805. 

transcendent,  supreme. 

transient,  of  short  duration. 

transmute,  change. 

transported,  carried  away  with  emotion. 

travail,  suffering;  toil;  agony. 

treachery,  violation  of  confidence. 


tropical  growth,  rapid  growth. 

trough,  a  depression,  as  between  waves. 

truculence,  savageness;  ferociousness. 

unalienable,   incapable    of    being   sur- 
rendered or  given  up  to  another, 
unbrace,  loose, 
uncouth,  odd;  strange, 
unquailing,  undaunted;  not  shrinking, 
unsolders,  .separates;  divides;  disunites, 
unsullied,  untarnished, 
usurper,  one  who  rules  illegally. 

vain  pretense,  fruitless,  false  show. 
Valhalla,    in    Norse    mythology,    the 

Hall  of  Odin,  into  which  he  receives 

the  souls  of  heroes  slain  in  battle, 
validity,  soundness;  justness. 
valor-glories,  bravery. 
van,  the  leading  unit  of  an  army, 
vantage-ground,  favorable  situation, 
vassal,  a  subject;  a  servant, 
vaulted  roof,  arched  roof  of  the  hall, 
vauntingly,  boastfully, 
verboten,  forbidden. 
venerable,  worthy  of  deep  respect, 
vestal  fire  of  democracy,  the  sacred 

fire  or  spirit  of  freedom. 
V.  C,  Victoria  Cross,  a  bronze  Maltese 

cross,  awarded  for  remarkable  valor 

to  members  of  the  Britbh  army  or 

navy, 
vigil,  watch;  act  of  keeping  awake, 
vindicate    their    ancestry,    justify    or 

maintain  the  claims  of  their  ancestry 

to  courage  and  the    spirit    of    free 

government. 
vive  la  France,  Long  live  France! 
votive  stone,  a  stone  set  to  commem- 

rate  a  vow. 
vouchsafed,  granted. 


ware,  aware. 

warm  precincts,  glowing  surroundings. 

wary,  cautious;  watchful. 

wave-beat  helm  of  will,  the  firm  will, 

unaffected  by  temptations. 
wear    round,    turn    the    vessel    about 

by  swinging  the  bow  with  the  wind, 

instead  of  against  it. 
weather-quarter,  the  windward  side, 
weeds,  garb;  dress, 
welter,  turmoil. 
Western  Ocean,  among  the  ancients, 

the  ocean  lying  to  the  west  of  the 

then  known  world;  the  Atlantic, 
wha  hae  wi',  who  have  with. 
Winthrop,  one  of  the  early  governors 

of  Massachusetts  colony, 
wroth  of  mood,  angry;  wrathful. 

yeoman,   one   of  the   poorer   class   of 
English  freemen. 


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